Mark Cavendish saved his best till last at the Tour of Qatar. The former world champion came from nearly twenty riders back to take victory by a wheel length on stage six. 

The win was his fourth in a row at the tour and clinched overall victory by 15 seconds. It is only the second time that the British sprinter has won the overall classification in a stage race, the first coming last year at the  ZLM Tour in the Netherlands.

It is great result for Cavendish, especially as his race did not get off to the best start. The first stage was won by Brent Bookwalter of BMC, after the American broke clear of the peloton with two other riders in the final kilometers of stage one.

Still he lost little time and Omega Pharma-Quick Step kept him in contention in stage two's team time trial finishing 10" off BMC.

From that point, the Isle of Man born sprinter was dominant. Cavendish won stages three, four, five and six - picking up time bonuses on each occasion. His wins were particularly impressive because, with the exception of stage five, they were acheived without a lead out.

Mentions must also go to BMC, who had five riders in the top seven and won the team competition. Their man Taylor Phinney also won the young riders jersey.

As for the Tour of Qatar itself - the race is unlikely to became any cycling fans favourite with pan flat stages and featureless surroundings. But it did attract a lot of cycling's big names with the race viewed as good preparation for the classics season. One worry though is the lack of local interest: spectators seemed very thin on the ground. Something that does not bode well for the 2016 World Road Race Championships due to be held in Qatar.

Tour of Qatar Overall Classification

1st Mark Cavendish (OPQS) 13hr 30' 59"

2nd Brent Brookwalter (BMC) +0'15"

3rd Taylor Phinney (BMC) +0'20"

4th Adam Blythe (BMC) +0'22"

5th Bernhard Eisel (SKY) +0'24"

6th Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) +0'25"

7th Michael Schar (BMC) +0'25"

8th Edvald Boasson Hagen (SKY) +0'29"

9th Luke Rowe (SKY) +0'30"

10th Geraint Thomas (SKY) +0'30"

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About the author
Marcus Liddell
Freelance broadcast journalist and UK Cycling writer for Vavel UK.