Briton Mark Cavendish won the Tour of Qatar for a second time on Friday, as Alexander Kristoff sprinted to victory on the fifth and final stage.

Norwegian Kristoff held off Team Dimension Data man Cavendish to take his third stage win of the tour and the points classification, matching his efforts in the race from 2015.

But 30-year-old Cavendish held off Belgian Roy Jans and Belarussian Yauheni Hutarovich to finish second on the day, with the bonus seconds collected giving him the overall winner's gold jersey by five seconds from Kristoff.

It was Cavendish's second title after 2013 when riding for Omega Pharma-Quick Step.

The triumph signals a return to form for the Manxman with his new team, after a stop-start year last season led to him joining the South African outfit.

Belgian Greg van Avermaet went into the 114 kilometre race to Doha just two seconds behind Cavendish, but the BMC rider ended up in 18th place to finish eight seconds adrift in third overall.

Source :AFP