Tour of Croatia: Cavendish tops Nizzolo in stage 2 sprint

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Mark Cavendish reversed the sprint result of the opening Tour of Croatia stage, getting over on race leader Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) on the second stage. Cavendish's lead-out man Mark Renshaw sat up just before the line and took third.

It was Cavendish's first win since the Tour of Qatar in February, and a relief after finishing a frustratedly close second to Nizzolo on stage 1.

"I'm really happy to take the win today," Cavendish said. "Yesterday the team rode on the front from beginning and I just messed up a bit in the final, I just didn't have it yesterday really. So I was really glad the team kept the faith in me for today.

"Once again Jay [Thompson] spent all day in front, working super hard. The guys were then also really prominent in final."

The finishing kilometer had a pair of roundabouts that caused several riders to come to grief. Canadian champion Guillaume Boivin (Cycling Academy Team) was given the same time as the leaders after a crash inside the final 3km.

"The finishes here in Croatia are really technical and quite dangerous so it make it quite nervous," Cavendish said. "We had a good plan with Mark Renshaw to lead it out into the corners."

The win and time bonus puts Cavendish into the race lead on the same time as Nizzolo, with Renshaw moving into third at 10 seconds.

"We have the leader’s jersey now which means it will be another long day on the front for Jay tomorrow but he has been so strong and is riding really well," Cavendish said. "The stage definitely isn't for me tomorrow but Reinie [Reinardt Janse van Rensburg] can be up there so as a team we will remain prominent in the race."

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