Mark Cavendish was beaten to the line by Alexander Kristoff in stage two of the Tour of Qatar yesterday but the Manxman retains the leader’s gold jersey.

Dimension Data’s Cavendish, who won stage one on Monday, finished second at Qatar University as Kristoff (Katusha) prevailed in a stage that served as a test event for October’s World Championships in Doha.

As the race neared its conclusion, a big crash in the peloton held up much of the field but Cavendish, the 2011 world champion, was safely ahead of the carnage, on the wheel of Kristoff.

But the Norwegian held off Cavendish in their sprint, clinging on to claim victory.

Belgium’s Roy Jans, riding for Wanty-Groupe Gobert, was third.

Cavendish leads the standings by five seconds from Kristoff ahead of today’s third stage, an 11km solo time trial in Lusail.

Cavendish told his team’s website: “That was a really close one. Unfortunately, the wind was coming from the front right so you wanted the barrier side (during the sprint).

“I had to let Kristoff in so I knew I had to go on his outside which kind of made it harder for me.

“At the end of the day I was happy with how it went.

“On that finish I can’t be too disappointed losing to Kristoff – he is strong on that type of finish. I am happy to keep the jersey.”