Team Columbia-HTC's Mark Cavendish sprinted to his twenty-first victory of the season in stage two of the 2009 Tour of Ireland on Saturday.

"It's always good to win," Cavendish said afterwards, "and though it was a tough finish we managed to take control of things with two kilometres to go. It was a team win, one guy crosses the line with his arms in the air, but it's a success for everybody."

The winner of six stages in the Tour de France this summer, Cavendish said, "This is the first time I've gone really deep since July.

"I'm not going to be going for the overall here, but for sure it's an objective for the team. We won it last year with an amazing ride on the last day, and I think we can do it again."

After Ireland, Cavendish's next race will be the Tour of Missouri in the USA.

"My objective there is a stage win. After that, I'll go on to the 2009 World Championships, where I'll be going to support my teammates, and then I want to do Paris-Tours."

Saturday's triumph was Cavendish fourth stage victory of his career in the Tour of Ireland.