Etixx - Quick-Step rider Mark Cavendish was just centimeters short of victory in the 177.7km Aviva Tour of Britain Stage 1 on Sunday, as the stage came down to a bike throw between the British rider and Elia Viviani (Team Sky). After review, the race confirmed Viviani as the victor, with Cavendish 2nd and Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) 3rd.

The bunch arrival was far from guaranteed, however. Two riders out of the original four-man breakaway remained ahead, but were caught with 1.4km to go in the stage. Etixx - Quick-Step did a great job organizing at the front to lead out the Manx Missile.

Mark Renshaw was, as usual, the last man to pull for Cavendish, and he put his teammate into ideal position. But a complicated finale meant the top sprinters of the peloton would have a tough fight to the line.

"I was kind of nervous about this final," Cavendish said. "Some of the guys did recon of it yesterday and they said it's really technical. We didn't know what to expect. So, we wanted to be in front at the end.

"The guys did super well. We put Fernando Gaviria ahead of Mark Renshaw, telling him what to do, and he was super good. After the last sharp left-hander, it was a bit technical with the wind blowing down through the buildings in the last straight. I knew I just had to lay off Mark, it was going to go uphill.

“When I kicked off Mark I kicked really well, but the line just wasn't coming quick enough. I could sense Greipel there and I think I just focused too much on Greipel. If I had taken the left-hand sharp, maybe I would have had it. But I was too concentrated on the right side, and Elia came through on the left ahead of me.

"But actually, I'm very happy with the team. They supported me wonderfully today. Congratulations to Elia as he deserved the win. We'll see what we can do tomorrow as we're already riding really well together."