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Mark Cavendish takes Tour of Qatar lead with stage one win

Mark Cavendish of Great Britain and Dimension Data crosses the line to win stage one of the 2016 Tour of Qatar
Image: Mark Cavendish has opened up an eight-second lead at the top of the Tour of Qatar general classification

Mark Cavendish claimed his first win of the season and the early overall lead of the Tour of Qatar by sprinting to victory on stage one at the Al Khor Corniche.

The Dimension Data rider formed part of a 21-man lead group when the peloton split apart early in the race and reaped the benefits by beating Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) into second place and Andrea Guardini (Astana) into third.

Cavendish received 10 bonus seconds for his win, as well as five more at earlier intermediate sprints, so he now leads second-placed Modolo by eight seconds and third-placed Guardini by 11 seconds at the top of the general classification.

The five-day race continues on Tuesday with a flat, 135km second stage starting and finishing in Doha.

Stage one result

1 Mark Cavendish (GB) Dimension Data, 3:28:46

2 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida, same time

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3 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Astana, st

4 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18, st

5 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha, st

6 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data, st

7 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing, st

8 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing, st

9 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Fortuneo-Vital Concept, st

10 Soren Kragh Andersen (Den) Giant-Alpecin, st

General classification

1 Mark Cavendish (GB) Dimension Data, 3:28:31

2 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida, +8secs

3 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Astana, +11

4 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha, +12

5 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha, +13

6 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing, +14

7 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18, +15

8 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data, same time

9 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing, st

10 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Fortuneo-Vital Concept, st

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