the Tour of Ireland, winning stage two. In September he recorded the fiftieth win of his road racing career in a sprint finish in the opening stage of the Tour of Missouri. Before the race he confirmed he would remain with in 2010, ending speculation that he was moving to the newly created British team, . Cavendish retained the leader's jersey by sprinting to victory in stage two but finished fifth in stage three, losing the overall lead to Hushovd. A lung infection forced him to withdraw from the race before stage four. Although selected for the British team for the road race at the 2009 UCI Road World Championships, his illness prevented him from taking part. 2010 After a dental problem, Cavendish delayed the start of his 2010 season until the Vuelta a Andalucía in mid-February. Following the lay off his form was poor, and he failed to defend his victory at the Milan–San Remo, coming in six minutes behind the winner in eighty-ninth place. His pre-season goals were to win the green jersey in the Tour de France and win the road race at the UCI Road World Championships. Cavendish raced in the Tour of Flanders but only to work for a teammate and gain experience. He was involved in a crash and did not finish. Following a poor start to the season, he found form at the Volta a Catalunya, finishing seventh in the time-trial and winning stage two. His team withdrew Cavendish from the Tour de Romandie for making an offensive gesture after winning the second stage. Missing the Giro d'Italia, he chose instead to compete at the Tour of California starting in May, where he won stage one—only his third victory of the season. In June, Cavendish crashed heavily whilst sprinting in the closing metres of stage four of the Tour de Suisse. He appeared to veer off line and brought down Haussler and several other riders, raising criticism from other teams regarding his riding style. Cavendish entered the Tour de France. During stage one, he crashed out of the final sprint, with just under remaining in the stage. Overhead camera footage showed him failing to negotiate a corner after entering too fast and turning too late. He then leaned his shoulder into a fellow rider as he travelled away from the racing line. Cavendish returned to form by winning the stage five, six, eleven,