at the start of the 2009 giro d'italia columbia won the team time trial and he was given the maglia rosa leaders jersey, becoming the first british rider to ever wear it. the first 2 road stages however were fruitless for cavendish, who was beaten to the line by alessandro petacchi in the first stage and was caught behind a crash and failed to make it back for the sprint the next day. cavendish soon asserted his sprinting dominance on the race however, gaining 3 stage wins before abandoning following stage 13, citing a need to rest for beginning preparations for the tour de france. he continued his preparation by racing the tour de suisse. he won both stage 3 and stage 6 to wear the points jersey. however, this was taken off him by fabian cancellara.