British sprinter Mark Cavendish came agonisingly close to scoring a win on his debut for T-Mobile, finishing a close second to Angelo Furlan in a hard-fought sprint at the end of the first stage of the Etoile de Besseges in Marseilles. Tinkoff Credit System’s Ruggero Marzoli placed third, with Unibet.com’s Baden Cooke back in fourth spot. The Unibet.com team, forced to ride without the sponsor’s logo in Tuesday’s GP de la Ouverture, rode in the correct team strip for Wednesday’s event.

Angelo Furlan snaffles Etoile de Besseges stage one

No easy wins even in February	Furlan happy to be back to winning ways	Mark Cavendish so close to the win
Tyler Hamilton returns as the Sphinx	Am I really racing again?	Hamilton ponders his return to the peloton
Grey February skies cheer the peloton	Credit Agricole work on the front	Mark Cavendish wears the T-Mobile strip
Furlan tries on the leader’s jersey