He was a surprise inclusion on the British squad for the 2009 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, where he competed in the scratch race and the madison, failing to pick up medals in either. He took up the European season at Tirreno–Adriatico, the Italian one-week stage race, winning one stage. He then entered his first classic race, Milan–San Remo, where he tracked down rider Heinrich Haussler in the last narrowly winning the sprint and the race—Cavendish's first victory in a race known as one of the "five monuments of cycling".