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Mark Cavendish keeps Tour of Qatar lead despite Alexander Kristoff loss

Alexander Kristoff, Mark Cavendish, Tour of Qatar
Image: Alexander Kristoff beat Mark Cavendish in a photo finish

Mark Cavendish retained his overall lead of the Tour of Qatar despite being beaten into second place in a photo finish by Alexander Kristoff on stage two.

Cavendish (Dimension Data) and Kristoff (Katusha) engaged in a 150m, side-by-side drag race to the line outside Qatar University in Doha, but it was the Norwegian who prevailed by less than half the length of a wheel.

Kristoff started the day 12 seconds down on leader Cavendish overall but received 10 bonus seconds for the win, plus another three at an earlier intermediate sprint.

Mark Cavendish, Alexander Kristoff, Tour of Qatar 2016 stage two
Image: Cavendish and Kristoff on the podium after stage two

However, Cavendish was awarded six bonus seconds for finishing second and consequently stays top of the general classification, five seconds ahead of second-placed Kristoff and 14 seconds ahead of third-placed Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida).

Only a handful riders contested the sprint finish due to a crash close to the front of the peloton inside the final 1km.

Stage two acted as a test event for October's World Championships road races, which will be held in Doha.

The five-day Tour of Qatar continues on Wednesday with an 11km individual time trial outside the Lusail race circuit.

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Stage two result

1 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha, 3:11:25

2 Mark Cavendish (GB) Dimension Data, same time

3 Roy Jans (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert, st

4 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing, st

5 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data, st

6 Andrea Palini (Ita) Skydive Dubai, st

7 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida, st

8 Tomasz Kiendys (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice, st

9 Andre Looij (Ned) Roompot Oranje Peloton, st

10 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha, st

General classification

1 Mark Cavendish (GB) Dimension Data,

2 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha, +5secs

3 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida, +14

4 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Astana, +17

5 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data, +18

6 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha, same time

7 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing, +20

8 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Fortuneo-Vital Concept, +21

9 Sven Erik Bystrom (Nor) Katusha, st

10 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing, st

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