Cavendish a whisker away from cat-astrophe

ESPN staff

November 20, 2014

Mark Cavendish narrowly avoided injury when a cat crossed his path at the 't Kuipke velodrome © Getty Images

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Mark Cavendish avoided a cat-astrophe on Wednesday night, after almost being knocked over during a race in Belgium.

Cavendish was a whisker away from a nasty accident after a cat ran onto the track where he was racing.

He was taking part in the Ghent Six-day race, where the Manxman is competing for his Omega Phara-Quick Step team.

But on day one of the competition Cavendish, who memorably crashed out of the Tour de France at the opening stage, almost suffered another calamity.

A small black cat wandered onto track at the 't Kuipke velodrome, with Cavendish having to alter his course at the last minute to avoid hitting it.

As Cavendish managed to miss the feline track-invader, the cat disappeared into the crowd, miraculously unharmed.

Cavendish was able to claw his way back into contention, ending the first day in second along with team-mate Iljo Keisse with five days to go.

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