Mark Cavendish crashes as Tom Boonen wins Tour of Qatar
- Published
Team Sky's Mark Cavendish crashed during the sixth and final stage of the Tour of Qatar.
The world road race champion, winner of two stages in the race, went down after a clash of wheels with Tyler Farrar approaching the sprint finish in Doha.
Cavendish, who suffered cuts and bruises but completed the stage without his helmet, told BBC Sport: "It's just one of those sprinting things."
Frenchman Arnaud Demare won the 120km stage and Belgian Tom Boonen the Tour.
Cavendish, who finished sixth overall, said he smashed his helmet in the crash but does not think his injuries are too serious.
"I landed on the back of my head. I'm a little bit dizzy but I'm okay - I'll just rest and heal," said the 26-year-old Isle of Man rider.
"My helmet disintegrated at the back. I was sliding on the back of my head for quite a while.
"My neck's a bit sore - I'll need some treatment on that over the next couple of days.
"Apart from that I didn't take too much skin off - a bit of my elbows, a bit off my hip - normal cycling ones."
Team Sky sports director Steven de Jongh added: "It's a pity to finish the race that way but luckily we have two wins and he has nothing broken, so we can move on to Oman now.
"[Cavendish] wanted to go but [Roger] Kluge came across and he hesitated a bit. He wanted to go again but then they touched wheels with Farrar and went down."
Boonen finished 28 seconds ahead of American Farrar in the overall standings to record his fourth victory in this event.
Juan Antonio Flecha, Cavendish's Team Sky colleague, was a further five seconds adrift in third.
- Published31 January 2012