Mark Cavendish wins first road race title in Glasgow

Mark Cavendish in Glasgow

Mark Cavendish won a sprint finish to claim his first National Road Race Championship in Glasgow on Sunday.

The Manx rider overtook David Millar on the home straight and held off the challenge of Ian Stannard, who recovered from a puncture in the penultimate lap to claim silver.

Victory provided Cavendish with ideal preparation for the Tour de France, which starts on Corsica on Saturday.

Lizzie Armitstead earlier took the women's prize with a dominant display.

Cavendish was made to work hard for his victory, with Millar attacking in the final stages after a four-man leading group had emerged in the ninth of 14 laps of the 14.2km circuit around Glasgow's city centre and West End.

But the Scot could not get far enough ahead of Cavendish, 28, to overcome the Omega Pharma Quickstep rider's famed sprinting ability.

Peter Kennaugh missed out on a medal after falling to stay up with the pace as the race reached a climax in Glasgow Green.

There was no close finish to the women's race, with Boels Dolmans rider Armitstead finishing 63 seconds ahead of runner-up Laura Trott, who edged out Wiggle Honda team-mate Dani King in a sprint finish.

Armitstead, 24, who previously won this event in 2011, spoke of her delight at regaining the title.

The 24-year-old told the Daily Record: "It's really special. It was one of my main goals of the season.

"I've had an up and down season so far, so I needed a bit of a confidence boost and hopefully having the jersey on my back will help."

The BBC Sport website will have live text commentary of each stage of the Tour de France, with audio commentary from BBC Radio 5 live.