UCI Road World Championships 2012: Mark Cavendish takes whack from fan as Philippe Gilbert wins title Shaking his head, in astonishment and some pain, Cavendish continued uninterrupted but on the next lap made a play to the cameras of looking for the spectator as he passed the same spot. Not surprisingly the fan made himself scarce. On the next lap, having expended every last ounce of energy for the team, Cavendish dropped off the back of the race and received rapturous applause all the way up the Cauberg before he pulled over and headed for the team coach, his race and season done. Despite the incident Cavendish, who wore the No 1 race number to denote his status as last year's champion, was delighted with his abbreviated ride in support of his British team-mates and confirmed it was always the intention to climb off just after halfway. Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome, both running out of steam at the end of a long season, did likewise a couple of laps later, leaving Britain's less heralded riders to take up the challenge. "I went well but I was more tired after a 140km today than I was when I won the championships over 250km last summer," said Cavendish. "It was real nice going up the Cauberg at the end, the fans" reception meant a lot and it was the perfect way to end the year to race here with the GB boys. It's been good year as world champion with 15 wins but I don't think, for whatever reason, I have got the maximum out of myself. I'm satisfied but not entirely happy. As for Tiernan-Locke, his finishing position of 19th just five seconds behind Gilbert, does him little justice. Until the final 2.5km, over a course which was 61km longer than he has ever raced before, the Endura rider went toe-to-toe with cycling's modern day greats and did not bat an eyelid. He reacted to every move, not least when Alberto Contador attacked threateningly and then positioned himself cannily over the final two laps until his lack of experience over this distance told at the death. Britain's performance director Dave Brailsford said: "For his first race at this level, over that distance, Jonathan Tiernan-Locke's performance was remarkable and bodes well for the future. This guy will win big races for sure. He showed great confidence and character riding at that level for the first time. And I'm absolutely thrilled with the performance overall. The younger guns - Ben Swift, Ian Stannard, Luke Rowe and Tiernan-Locke - took the race for us after Mark had done such a fantastic job early on. They rode well tactically and that is very exciting for the future. They were right at the front of the race and played a big role in making the race. Although there was no medal today, that to me was an exciting way to end the season.