Cavendish claims first win of season in Colombia

Mark Cavendish powered to the first victory of his final year as a professional cyclist by edging out Fernando Gaviria to win the fourth stage of Tour Colombia on Friday.

The 38-year-old made the most of a strong lead-out from his Astana teammates to get the better of Gaviria, who had beaten the Briton to the opening-stage honours earlier this week, in Zipaquira.

Cavendish was due to retire at the end of 2023 but decided to continue for one more year to have another tilt at securing a record 35th Tour de France stage win.

The sprint specialist, who is level on the all-time Tour de France stage wins list with Eddy Merckx, crashed out of the sport's biggest race last year in the eighth stage.