DOHA — Isle of Man racer Mark Cavendish, of the Omega Pharma team, sealed overall victory on the Tour of Qatar Friday after winning the sixth and final stage on the Doha Corniche. The 2011 world champion won the 116.5-km ride from Sealine Beach to Doha in a sprint finish ahead of Yauheni Hutarovich of Belarus and Barry Markus of the Netherlands. It was Cavendish's eighth win in total on the Tour of Qatar, and his fourth in as many days. He finishes top of the overall standings ahead of two American riders from the BMC team in the shape of Brent Bookwalter and Taylor Phinney, who emerged with the jersey for the best young rider. No rider had ever won four consecutive stages on the Tour of Qatar. Belgium's Tom Bonnen, a four-time winner of the Tour, won four stages in 2007, but not all in succession. Boonen, who is now a teammate of Cavendish at Omega Pharma, was unable to defend his title this year due to an elbow injury. Katusha verdict next week Russian team Katusha is presenting an appeal to sport's highest court after the International Cycling Union refused to grant top-tier status in 2013. The Court of Arbitration for Sport says a verdict is expected next week. The UCI's license commission declined Katusha's application for World Tour status and guaranteed entry to cycling's biggest races. Katusha must rely on wild-card entries from race organizers. The commission and Katusha have not said publicly why the license was refused in December. The UCI has allocated its full quota of 18 team licenses before the court's verdict. Katusha riders include the 2012 rankings leader, Joaquim Rodriguez of Spain. The team's general manager is Viatcheslav Ekimov, the three-time Olympic champion and longtime teammate of Lance Armstrong with the US Postal Service team. — Agencies
