Cavendish grabs opening-stage at Tour of Missouri

New York: Britain`s Mark Cavendish outsprinted a large field to claim the opening stage of the Tour of Missouri on Monday.

Cavendish, who won six stages of the Tour de France this year, crossed the finish line of the 120.7 km circuit around St. Louis in two hours, 43 minutes, 55 seconds. Argentine Juan Jose Haedo was second while Norway`s Thor Hushovd finished third in the 10-lap race. All three were credited with the same time. The race features 15 teams, including seven ProTour squads and 24 riders who competed in this year`s Tour de France. Moises Aldape of Mexico, Tomas Vaitkus of Lithuania and Denmark`s Chris Sorensen spent a majority of the stage with a slight lead before they were steadily absorbed on the final lap, setting up the full-field sprint. Unlike the Tour de France, in which Cavendish often had his team mates near the front in the final kilometre, the 26-year-old had to find his way around Hushovd in the dash to the line. There were two crashes in the final kilometre, but no serious injuries. American Levi Leipheimer and German Jens Voigt both returned to competition for the first time since crashing out of the Tour de France and finished in the main group along with last year`s winner American Christian Vande Velde. The race continues on Tuesday with a 180.9-kilometre stage from St. Genevieve to Cape Girardeau. The week-long race concludes in Kansas City on Sunday. Bureau Report