Mark Cavendish’s Tour of Oman ends with a fine and loss of green jersey
Mark Cavendish's Tour of Oman ends with a fine and loss of green jersey
Mark Cavendish was docked enough green jersey points to lose his lead in the points classification with one stage remaining in the Tour of Oman after violating UCI guidelines. Cavendish was fined 300 Swiss francs and lost nine points after he pushed off a race vehicle during stage 5.
The Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl rider handed his green jersey over to race leader Jan Hirt who also led and eventually won, the general classification. After the deduction, Cavendish ended up fifth in the points competition, 10 points away from winning the green jersey.
Overall stage 5 was a rough day for Cavendish who crashed heavily with 62 km remaining in the stage. The incident was caused by cross-winds that split the peloton by an enthusiastic Team DSM. “As is normal with the chaos of echelons forming I had a touch of wheels and unfortunately I came down quite heavily,” Cavendish said after the race. “I am lucky that my injuries seem to not be too bad and I was able to get on my bike, with just some bruising and external abrasions.”
Although the Tour of Oman ended on a sour note with the points deduction, fines, and the stage 5 crash the week started out well for Cavendish with a second-place on stage 1 and a victory the following day.
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