Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team led out sprinter Mark Cavendish brilliantly once again, this time in the 88km scramble at Tour of Britain Stage 8 in London.
OPQS had four on the front for Cavendish in the final kilometers after also chasing down breakaways all day. With 2.3km to go, OPQS was down to three riders and they also had to take over control on the front after Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox moved up. As OPQS regained control going into the final turns, Alessandro Petacchi led Cavendish. A small gap formed between the two of OPQS on the front, but Peta sensed this and let up a bit to allow the Manx Missile to get back on his wheel before going full gas out of a turn into the straight final meters of the race. Cavendish launched with a considerable gap on the other sprint contenders, and went on to win his third stage at Tour of Britain. Sam Bennett (An Post - Chainreaction) was 2nd, and Elia Viviani (Cannondale ProCycling) was 3rd.
This was the 57th victory (55th road) in three disciplines for OPQS in 2013. This was also the 20th victory for Cavendish this season.
"I'm really happy and proud," Cavendish said. "It's always nice to win here in front of my British supporters. The stage was as we expected it to be. The race was really fast. We had support of other teams to control and we took things into our hands in the last laps. Once again the team was super strong! Martin Velits and Julien Vermote worked hard as usual. Michal Golas and Iljo Keisse did a great job in the last kilometers. The lead out was also perfect once again. Petacchi also led me really well. He always stays calm and waits for the right moment. He went super fast into the second to last corner and then he led me well into the final corner. I only had to worry about my sprint. So, I am very happy. It was great to ride with him for the first time. We won three stages with him as my leadout, so I am really happy. Now I just want to say congratulations to team in Italy, who became the world champions today. They did a great race and we are all reading about it and happy for them."
