Cavendish claims win in Germany

Cavendish has a British record 10 Tour de France stage victories

Mark Cavendish produced a trademark late surge to power away from German Gerald Ciolek and seize victory in the Sparkasse Giro race in Germany.

The Columbia-HTC rider completed the 177-kilometre course around Bochum in four hours 16 minutes and 30 seconds with Andreas Stauff taking third place.

It is the 20th victory of the season for Cavendish and takes his career tally to 48 in just three years.

The 24-year-old also won six stages of this year's Tour de France.

His victory on the Tour's final leg through Paris on 26 July secured second place in the event's sprint standings ahead of Ciolek.

He also claimed a narrow victory in March's Milan-San Remo Classic in addition to stage wins in the Tour of Qatar, Tour of California, the Giro d'Italia and the Tour of Switzerland in 2009.