Mark Cavendish (Team Columbia-Highroad) blasted to his second sprint victory in three days in the Tour of Qatar on Friday.

The British sprinter outclassed German rivals Robert Forster and Heinrich Haussler in the dash for the line on the Doha Corniche at the end of the final stage of the Qatar Tour.

“Everybody knew that we were going for the sprint because we’d taken control of the race well before the last few kilometres,” Cavendish said afterwards. "With a kilometre to go, suddenly all of the teams swamped together at the front, but my team-mates helped me go clear and get in the right position for the sprint. If I hadn’t had some bad luck in the first few days then I might have been fighting for the general classification.”

“But I’m coming away from here with two stage wins so I can’t really complain. Columbia was the most successful team in the world in 2008 and I just think we have to confirm that again this year.”

Cavendish said his victory on the final stage of Qatar was in honour of Frederiek Nolf, the rider who died tragically on Wednesday night during his sleep while recovering for the next day's Tour of Qatar stage.

“It’s good to be able to dedicate the win to him, it’s a shame his team wasn’t here and he couldn’t finish the race, but this is for him and his family,” added Cavendish.

Tom Boonen (Team Quick Step) took the overall race win for the third time in his career.

February 6, 2009: Tour of Qatar: Sealine Beach Resort - Doha Corniche (120 km):
1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia-Highroad       02:36:18
2 Robert Förster (Ger) Team Milram                          
3 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Cervélo TestTeam                  
4 Hans Dekkers (Ned) Garmin - Slipstream                    
5 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Liquigas                          
6 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Team Katusha                      
7 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C.                       
8 Kenny Robert Van Hummel (Ned) Skil-Shimano                
9 Roy Sentjens (Bel) Silence - Lotto                        
10 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step                              
11 Tom Veelers (Ned) Skil-Shimano                           
12 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale                     
13 Markus Zberg (Swi) BMC Racing Team                       
14 Thomas Fothen (Ger) Team Milram                          
15 Stéphane Poulhies (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale                 
16 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank                        
17 Miyataka Shimizu (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR                
18 Roger Hammond (GBr) Cervélo TestTeam                     
19 Daniel Lloyd (GBr) Cervélo TestTeam                      
20 Renaud Dion (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale                       
21 Andreas Klier (Ger) Cervélo TestTeam                     
22 Rafaa Chitioui (Tun) Doha Team                           
23 Abdelbaset Hannachi (Alg) Doha Team                      
24 Yasuharu Nakajima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR               
25 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team                   
26 Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale                        
27 Martin Kohler (Swi) BMC Racing Team                      
28 Jackson Stewart (USA) BMC Racing Team                    
29 Denis Galimzyanov (Rus) Team Katusha                     
30 Joon Yong Seo (Kor) Meitan Hompo - GDR                   
31 David Deroo (Fra) Skil-Shimano                           
32 Roy Curvers (Ned) Skil-Shimano                           
33 Wouter Weylandt (Bel) Quick Step                         
34 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Rabobank              
35 Ricardo Van Der Velde (Ned) Garmin - Slipstream          
36 Farid Belhani (Alg) Doha Team                            
37 Cédric Pineau (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale                     
38 Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank                              
39 Stuart Shaw (Aus) Drapac Porsche Cycling                 
40 Gatis Smukulis (Lat) AG2R La Mondiale                    
41 Marc De Maar (Ned) Rabobank                              
42 Daniel Braunsteins (Aus) Drapac Porsche Cycling          
43 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Silence - Lotto                 
44 Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Cervélo TestTeam                     
45 Guennadi Mikhailov (Rus) Team Katusha                    
46 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Garmin - Slipstream               
47 Martin Reimer (Ger) Cervélo TestTeam                     
48 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C.                   
49 Massimiliano Mori (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C.                  
50 Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C.                     
51 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) AG2R La Mondiale                    
52 José Luis Arrieta Lujambio (Spa) AG2R La Mondiale        
53 Michael Friedman (USA) Garmin - Slipstream               
54 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Team Milram                          
55 Joseph Lewis (Aus) Drapac Porsche Cycling                
56 Dominik Roels (Ger) Team Milram                          
57 Artur Gajek (Ger) Team Milram                            
58 Mickaël Damiens (Fra) Meitan Hompo - GDR                 
59 Gregory Henderson (NZl) Team Columbia-Highroad           
60 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Cervélo TestTeam            
61 Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Team Columbia-Highroad         
62 Taylor Tolleson (USA) BMC Racing Team                    
63 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Team Katusha                       
64 Michael Barry (Can) Team Columbia-Highroad               
65 Robbie Williams (Aus) Drapac Porsche Cycling             
66 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Team Columbia-Highroad                
67 Guillaume Pont (Fra) Meitan Hompo - GDR                  
68 Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Rabobank                           
69 Koen De Kort (Ned) Skil-Shimano                          
70 Marco Velo (Ita) Quick Step                              
71 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Silence - Lotto                 
72 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Team Columbia-Highroad              
73 Björn Schröder (Ger) Team Milram                         
74 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Team Milram                          
75 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Rabobank                    0.11
76 Simon Spilak (Slo) Lampre - N.G.C.                       
77 Florian Stalder (Swi) BMC Racing Team                 0.14
78 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Liquigas                             
79 Antonio Cruz (USA) BMC Racing Team                    0.17
80 Cycril Lemoine (Fra) Skil-Shimano                     0.20
81 Aymen Ben Hassine (Tun) Doha Team                     0.27
82 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank                            
83 Badr Banihammad (UAE) Doha Team                          
84 Huub Duyn (Ned) Garmin - Slipstream                      
85 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin - Slipstream             0.31
86 Alexei Markov (Rus) Team Katusha                         
87 Alexander Serov (Rus) Team Katusha                       
88 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Cervélo TestTeam                       
89 Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas                             0.35
90 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Liquigas                            
91 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Quick Step                      0.47
92 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick Step                          
93 Marco Bandiera (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C.                     
94 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Silence - Lotto                  0.52
95 Leif Hoste (Bel) Silence - Lotto                         
96 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C.                      
97 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Liquigas                        1.05
98 Omar Hasanin (Syr) Doha Team                          1.07
99 Kazuya Okazaki (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR                  
100 Mitchell Docker (Aus) Skil-Shimano                   1.11
101 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Silence - Lotto              1.17
102 Servais Knaven (Ned) Team Milram                        
103 Tareq Esmaeili (Qat) Doha Team                          
104 Rhys Pollock (Aus) Drapac Porsche Cycling               
105 Bart Dockx (Bel) Silence - Lotto                        
106 Chad Beyer (USA) BMC Racing Team                        
107 Peter Mc Donald (Aus) Drapac Porsche Cycling            
108 Ashley Humbert (Aus) Drapac Porsche Cycling             
109 Kilian Patour (Fra) Garmin - Slipstream              2.00
110 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quick Step                  2.07
111 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Quick Step                         
112 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Katusha                         2.18
113 Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus) Team Katusha                  2.21
114 Marcin Sapa (Pol) Lampre - N.G.C.                    2.32
115 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) Team Columbia-Highroad         2.33
116 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Team Columbia-Highroad        2.43
117 William Frischkorn (USA) Garmin - Slipstream

Overall rankings after stage 6:
1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step       12:55:25
2 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Cervélo TestTeam               0.08
3 Roger Hammond (GBr) Cervélo TestTeam                   0.10
4 Daniel Lloyd (GBr) Cervélo TestTeam                    0.25
5 Andreas Klier (Ger) Cervélo TestTeam                   0.27
6 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Cervélo TestTeam          0.28
7 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C.                    1.07
8 Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Cervélo TestTeam                   1.43
9 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia-Highroad            2.11
10 Tom Veelers (Ned) Skil-Shimano                        2.35
11 Martin Reimer (Ger) Cervélo TestTeam                     
12 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Team Columbia-Highroad           2.43
13 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Team Katusha                    2.56
14 Denis Galimzyanov (Rus) Team Katusha                  3.24
15 Markus Zberg (Swi) BMC Racing Team                    3.26
16 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Cervélo TestTeam                    3.50
17 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Silence - Lotto              3.58
18 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C.                4.06
19 Kenny Robert Van Hummel (Ned) Skil-Shimano            4.47
20 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank                     4.54
21 Renaud Dion (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale                    5.00
22 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Team Milram                       5.05
23 Artur Gajek (Ger) Team Milram                         6.00
24 Huub Duyn (Ned) Garmin - Slipstream                   6.14
25 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank                         6.18
26 Marco Velo (Ita) Quick Step                           7.46
27 Koen De Kort (Ned) Skil-Shimano                       7.57
28 Robert Förster (Ger) Team Milram                      8.30
29 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Rabobank           8.42
30 Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Team Columbia-Highroad      8.58
31 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Team Katusha                  9.11
32 Wouter Weylandt (Bel) Quick Step                      9.20
33 Marc De Maar (Ned) Rabobank                           9.23
34 Michael Friedman (USA) Garmin - Slipstream            9.24
35 Martin Kohler (Swi) BMC Racing Team                   9.35
36 Gregory Henderson (NZl) Team Columbia-Highroad       10.19
37 Roy Curvers (Ned) Skil-Shimano                       10.28
38 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick Step                      10.34
39 Michael Barry (Can) Team Columbia-Highroad           10.45
40 Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas                            10.46
41 Guennadi Mikhailov (Rus) Team Katusha                11.10
42 Marco Bandiera (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C.                 11.31
43 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Silence - Lotto                 11.42
44 Björn Schröder (Ger) Team Milram                     11.59
45 Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank                          12.06
46 Stuart Shaw (Aus) Drapac Porsche Cycling             12.12
47 Alexei Markov (Rus) Team Katusha                     12.21
48 Mitchell Docker (Aus) Skil-Shimano                   12.53
49 Rhys Pollock (Aus) Drapac Porsche Cycling            13.17
50 Servais Knaven (Ned) Team Milram                     13.29
51 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Silence - Lotto             13.42
52 Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus) Team Katusha                  14.42
53 Roy Sentjens (Bel) Silence - Lotto                   15.44
54 Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C.                 15.46
55 Cycril Lemoine (Fra) Skil-Shimano                    15.54
56 Hans Dekkers (Ned) Garmin - Slipstream               16.21
57 Omar Hasanin (Syr) Doha Team                         16.32
58 Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Rabobank                       17.28
59 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Team Columbia-Highroad        17.54
60 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale                 18.18
61 Alexander Serov (Rus) Team Katusha                   18.41
62 Marcin Sapa (Pol) Lampre - N.G.C.                    19.02
63 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Garmin - Slipstream           19.11
64 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quick Step                  19.32
65 Aymen Ben Hassine (Tun) Doha Team                    20.00
66 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Team Columbia-Highroad            21.04
67 José Luis Arrieta Lujambio (Spa) AG2R La Mondiale    21.09
68 Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale                    22.42
69 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Liquigas                         22.53
70 Mickaël Damiens (Fra) Meitan Hompo - GDR             23.04
71 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Liquigas                        23.14
72 Stéphane Poulhies (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale             23.26
73 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Liquigas                       23.30
74 Thomas Fothen (Ger) Team Milram                      23.31
75 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Rabobank                   23.42
76 Massimiliano Mori (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C.              24.08
77 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C.                      
78 Antonio Cruz (USA) BMC Racing Team                   24.13
79 Leif Hoste (Bel) Silence - Lotto                     24.32
80 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Quick Step                      25.17
81 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Liquigas                     25.40
82 William Frischkorn (USA) Garmin - Slipstream         25.42
83 David Deroo (Fra) Skil-Shimano                       25.49
84 Dominik Roels (Ger) Team Milram                      25.53
85 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) AG2R La Mondiale                27.21
86 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Team Milram                      27.26
87 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin - Slipstream            27.44
88 Florian Stalder (Swi) BMC Racing Team                28.07
89 Chad Beyer (USA) BMC Racing Team                     29.12
90 Robbie Williams (Aus) Drapac Porsche Cycling         30.57
91 Joseph Lewis (Aus) Drapac Porsche Cycling            30.58
92 Rafaa Chitioui (Tun) Doha Team                       31.02
93 Gatis Smukulis (Lat) AG2R La Mondiale                31.38
94 Joon Yong Seo (Kor) Meitan Hompo - GDR               31.50
95 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Quick Step                     34.09
96 Miyataka Shimizu (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR            35.11
97 Guillaume Pont (Fra) Meitan Hompo - GDR                  
98 Cédric Pineau (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale                 36.01
99 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Silence - Lotto              36.02
100 Jackson Stewart (USA) BMC Racing Team               36.11
101 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team                  
102 Farid Belhani (Alg) Doha Team                       36.34
103 Ricardo Van Der Velde (Ned) Garmin - Slipstream     36.49
104 Kazuya Okazaki (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR             37.29
105 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Katusha                        39.25
106 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) Team Columbia-Highroad            
107 Daniel Braunsteins (Aus) Drapac Porsche Cycling     40.47
108 Abdelbaset Hannachi (Alg) Doha Team                 40.48
109 Taylor Tolleson (USA) BMC Racing Team               40.49
110 Simon Spilak (Slo) Lampre - N.G.C.                  40.52
111 Yasuharu Nakajima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR          41.00
112 Badr Banihammad (UAE) Doha Team                     41.18
113 Peter Mc Donald (Aus) Drapac Porsche Cycling        42.04
114 Ashley Humbert (Aus) Drapac Porsche Cycling         42.24
115 Tareq Esmaeili (Qat) Doha Team                      42.29
116 Kilian Patour (Fra) Garmin - Slipstream             42.31
117 Bart Dockx (Bel) Silence - Lotto                    43.09