Mark Cavendish may have all but given up hope of Olympic success in Rio on the road or in the velodrome, but his form in the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey so far has been impressive. After victory on stage one in Alanya, he quickly made it two wins in succession yesterday in Antalya at the start of the eight-stage event. His energy levels should not be a problem either, after receiving the slightly unusual bonus of a large bunch of bananas following his stage one success.
The Isle of Man rider seems to have resigned himself to next year's Olympics not featuring heavily (if at all) in his upcoming plans.
Instead, the 29-year-old sprint star seems to be devoting his energies towards more stage triumphs for his Etixx Quick-Step team. With 25 Tour de France stage victories already behind him, he will no doubt be looking to build on that success in this year's event in July.
The latest competition is the 51st edition of the Tour of Turkey. The route should certainly offer the riders some picturesque scenery as a backdrop to their efforts. The race set out from Alanya on Sunday in the south of the country, before preceding along the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts, with the spectacular finish in Istanbul on 3rd May.
Cavendish's latest victory in Antalya, recognised as being the fastest-growing city in Turkey, utilised his famed sprint finish once again.
After a leg where the riders covered some 182km during the day, it all came down to the final stages before the winner was known. There are few better in the world than the 'Manx Missile' in such circumstances and he had just too much power for the Italian rider Sacha Modolo. Cavendish retained the leader's jersey after two stages from Modolo, with his Italian compatriot Nicola Ruffoni just behind.
Stage three saw the sprinters take more of a back seat today on the first mountain stage, a 165km leg from Kemer to Elmali. Cavendish relinquished the race leader's Turquoise Jersey, but remains in pole position for the (sprinter's) Green Jersey classification. The stage was claimed by 43-year-old Italian Davide Rebellin, seven seconds ahead of Kristijan Durasek.
Both men had broken away with 7km to go on the stage. The Argentine Eduardo Sepulveda finished third, 50 seconds behind the winner. The first three men home on the day also moved into the top three places overall.
