Columbia-HTC’s Mark Cavendish blasted to his twenty-first victory of the season in stage two of the Tour of Ireland on Saturday in the bunch sprint that decided the 196 kilometres stage from Clonmel to Killarney.

"It’s always good to win,” Cavendish said afterwards, “and though it was a tough finish we managed to take control of things with two kilometres to go.

“It was a team win, one guy crosses the line with his arms in the air, but it’s a success for everybody.”

The winner of six stages in the Tour de France this summer, Cavendish said, “This is the first time I’ve gone really deep since July.

“I’m not going to be going for the overall here, but for sure it’s an objective for the team. We won it last year with an amazing ride on the last day, and I think we can do it again.”

After Ireland, Cavendish’s next race will be the Tour of Missouri in the USA.

“My objective there is a stage win. After that, I’ll go on to the World Championships, where I’ll be going to support my team-mates, and then I want to do Paris-Tours.”

Saturday’s triumph was Cavendish fourth stage victory of his career in the Tour of Ireland, and brings the tally of 2009 wins for Columbia-HTC’s men’s team to 68.