Mark Cavendish narrowlry missed out on victory at the end of the 11th stage of this year’s Giro d’Italia on Wednesday afternoon.

The Manx Missile was perfectly positioned to claim his first victory for his new Astana Qazaqstan Team after being expertly delivered to the finish after a 219-kilometre route from Camaiore to Tortona in the northern Alessandria region.

But, just when it looked like Cav would rack up his 17th victory of his career at the Giro, he was pipped to the line by Pascal Ackermann of UAE Team Emirates and Jonathan Milan of his old Bahrain -Victorious.

The Manxman claimed a fine third place finish which moved him into the top 10 of the points classification. The overall race is being led by fellow British rider Geraint Thomas.