Mark Cavendish claimed overall victory at the Tour of Qatar after the narrowest of defeats on the concluding fifth stage.

Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) won his third stage of the five-day race, but Briton Cavendish (Team Dimension Data) secured the gold jersey by five seconds.

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A photo finish determined Kristoff had beaten Cavendish by a minute margin, but the Norwegian was runner-up to the Manxman overall.

The victory constituted the first general classification success of the season for Team Dimension Data, previously known as MTN-Qhubeka.

Cavendish spared a thought for team-mate Edvald Boasson Hagen, who punctured on Thursday to relinquish the gold jersey.

"Obviously it's nice to be wearing gold now, but I know I am only wearing it on behalf of Edvald," Cavendish said.

"He only lost it because of bad luck and not through any other kind of cause.

"He should be the guy wearing this gold jersey but we are just super happy to keep it in Team Dimension Data."

After showing his road form at the venue for October's Road World Championships, Cavendish could now turn his attention to the track, with the Track World Championships taking place in London in early March.

Cavendish is seeking to ride the six-discipline omnium for Britain at the Rio Olympics.

Cavendish spent much of the winter in the velodrome, only returning to his road bike on January 18.

The 30-year-old is understood to be happy with his road conditioning and the results in Qatar and will now return to the track.

Whether or not he is selected for the Track World Championships will be down to British Cycling technical director Shane Sutton, head coach Iain Dyer and men's endurance coach Heiko Salzwedel.