Cavendish was the most successful rider, with 17 wins, in 2008

Briton Mark Cavendish won his first race of 2009 with a sprint victory in the 141km fourth stage of the Tour of Qatar in Madinat al Shamal.

On a day marked by strong crosswinds, a high pace and littered with crashes in the last 15km, Cavendish looked to have again missed out on the decisive move.

But the Columbia rider was helped back to the front where he managed to outsprint race leader Tom Boonen.

The tour continues on Thursday, with a 147km stage from the Camel Race Track.

Belgian Boonen, who took the race lead from Briton Roger Hammond after winning Tuesday's stage, had launched the final drive for the line but gave up yards from home.

Boonen's third-place finish enabled him to maintain his overall lead in the standings, but the energy he expended in the stage's final kilometres as he tried to fight off Hammond's challenge is likely to have taken its toll.

Cavendish surged to victory from way back in the field, closing the gap on the leading pack with 12km to go and establishing himself among the front-runners in the last 4000m.

"Apart from being a victory over Tom Boonen, it was certainly a victory over myself," said the Isle of Man's Cavendish, winner of four stages in last year's Tour de France.

"I really had to push myself to stick with the leaders towards the end.

"When I saw Tom taking a line on the right in the sprint, I took my chances on his left. It was the right option."

Boonen said he had been "too gentle during the sprint", a tactic which he said "opened the door a bit too easily" for Cavendish.

The former world champion now has a 10-second advantage over Hammond going into the 147km fifth and penultimate stage on Thursday.

Stage 4 results:
1. Mark Cavendish (GB) Team Columbia, 4hrs 4mins 55 secs
2. Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Cervelo Test Team, same time
3. Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step, same time
4. Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Team Katusha, same time
5. Robert Forster (Ger) Team Milram, same time

Overall standings:
1. Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step, 10hrs 19 mins 7 secs
2. Roger Hammond (GB) Cervelo Test Team, at 10secs
3. Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Cervelo Test Team, at 12secs
4. Daniel Lloyd (GB) Cervelo Test Team, at 25secs
5. Andreas Klier (Ger) Cervelo Test Team, at 27secs

Selected others:
9. Mark Cavendish (GB) Team Columbia, at 2mins 21secs
14. Jeremy Hunt (GB) Cervelo Test Team, at 3mins 19secs
92. Bradley Wiggins (GB) Garmin-Slipstream, at 27mins 13secs
117. Ben Swift (GB) Team Katusha, at 37mins 7secs

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