Mark Cavendish withdraws from Tour of Catalonia

Mark Cavendish's troubled start to the season continued today when he withdrew from the Tour of Catalonia with flu. The HTC-Columbia rider won stage two on Tuesday for his first victory of 2010 but finished down the field in the two hillier stages that followed and on the 181km fifth stage, won by Davide Malacarne, he pulled out. The Spanish stage race, which finishes on Sunday, was a late addition to Cavendish's programme as the Isle of Man rider seeks the form that carried him to 24 wins last season. It meant sacrificing Sunday's Gent-Wevelgem classic – a race that would ordinarily suit him – but an HTC-Columbia spokesperson said tonight that his illness is not expected to rule him out of the next big classic, the Tour of Flanders, a week on Sunday.