Wiggins, Chris Froome, Ian Stannard and Millar was assembled around Cavendish. The team aimed to control the race and allow him to take a sprint victory on The Mall. However, the team were forced to set the pace for the majority of the race, with few nations offering any support, and on the final climb of the Box Hill circuit, a large breakaway group of over thirty riders formed. Despite the best efforts of Stannard, Wiggins, Millar, Froome and Sky team-mate Bernhard Eisel, the breakaway could not be brought back leaving Cavendish to finish twenty-ninth, forty seconds behind the winner, Alexander Vinokurov of Kazakhstan. Cavendish won three stages of the Tour of Britain, crossing the line first in Dumfries, Blackpool and Guildford. Omega Pharma–Quick-Step (2013–15) On 18 October 2012, he signed a three-year contract with Belgian team Omega Pharma–Quick-Step from the 2013 season. 2013 He started the 2013 season by winning the opening stage of the Tour de San Luis in Argentina on his début for . He then went on to win the Tour of Qatar, with four consecutive stage victories out of six. In March, he won the second stage of the Three Days of De Panne. In April he finished in second place to defending champion Marcel Kittel of at the Scheldeprijs; he faded in the final kilometre, but recovered to launch his sprint from around twenty riders back with remaining. In May, Cavendish won the opening stage of the Giro d'Italia, taking the pink jersey for the third time in his career. He went on to win stage six from a bunch sprint after a pan-flat stage. This victory moved him above Robert Millar to the top of Cycling Weeklys all-time ranking of British professional riders. He also won stage twelve, claiming his 100th professional victory and reclaiming the lead in the points classification. The next day, he timed his finish perfectly to win stage thirteen, his fourth victory of the 2013 race. His fifth victory of the Giro came on the final stage, wrapping up the points classification which he had led for much of the race. By doing so, Cavendish became only the fifth rider to win the points classification in all three Grand Tours. On 23 June, Cavendish won the British national road race championship, around the street circuit in Glasgow. He overtook David Millar on the home straight and held off a