Cavendish finished 38th in the recent Tour of Qatar

Mark Cavendish sprinted to his first stage victory of 2011, winning the final stage of the Tour of Oman.

The HTC Highroad rider beat second-placed Russian Denis Galimzyanov (Katusha), while Italian Andrea Guardini (Farnese Vini) finished third.

Dutch rider Robert Gesink (Rabobank) took the overall win after victories in Friday's mountain stage and Saturday's individual time trial.

Meanwhile, Team Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen finished second overall.

Cavendish has endured an injury-hit start to his season, having suffered crashes at the Tour Down Under and last week's Tour of Qatar.

But the Isle of Man sprinter has looked back to his best this week, finishing second to Theo Bos in the opening stage in the Middle East on Tuesday before ending the race with a victory.

"Everyone tries to go for the win in races like this so it's a bit hectic," Cavendish said afterwards.

"But it was great, I had [team-mates] Hayden Roulston and Matt Goss looking after me in the finish, and they did a good job holding onto me and I did a good job holding onto them all the way through.

"Goss went at the end, I left a gap then went for it myself. It was difficult with the wind, but it all worked perfectly.

"It's always good to get the first victory of the year, too, it didn't work out the other day but now I've got it and I'm happy."

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