Tour of Britain

Tour of Britain 2011: Lithuanian Gediminas Bagdonas wins breakaway to take stage 7 in Sandringham

Over the past week the Tour of Britain has delivered some of the world's top riders to the masses of cycling fans that have lined the route from the relative highlands of Dumfries down to the lowlands of Norfolk.

Monday's high winds may have blown the race off course when organisers were forced to cancel stage two, but with typical British inclemency the show rolled on.

As the Blackpool seafront was getting battered by 75mph winds, the fans waited, eagerly, for a very different British tornado: Mark Cavendish.

The HTC-Highroad sprinter may have been dressed in leisurewear rather than Lycra with his bike secured, very tightly presumably, atop his team car, but he arrived. All smiles, thanking fans and signing autographs.

And quite possibly taking a moment to glance out to the Irish Sea towards the Isle of Man and wonder if the next time he's in Douglas he'll be the proud owner of the world champions' rainbow jersey.

Cavendish, after pulling out of the Vuelta a España last month, has been using the national eight-day stage race as preparation for next Sunday's Road Race World Championships in Copenhagen, as have others such as Thor Hushovd, the current world champion, who won Wednesday's fourth stage in Caerphilly.

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