Cavendish wins first stage of Tour of Turkey

ALANYA

DHA Photo

Manx sprint king Mark Cavendish won the first stage of the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey on April 27.

OmegaPharma-Quick Step rider Cavendish won the 141-kilometer opening stage in Alanya on the Mediterranean, in three hours, 15 minutes, 44 seconds.

Italian rider Elia Viviani of team Cannondale came second and Belkin team’s Dutch cyclist Theo Bos was third.

Cavendish, riding in Tour of Turkey for the first time, is the highest-profile name on the bill in the competition’s 50th edition.

The tour will continue with the 175-kilometer second stage between Alanya and Kemer on April 28.

The eight-stage journey will trace the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts for the first seven stages until the end of the seventh stage in İzmir. After transferring the teams from İzmir to Istanbul by air, the tour will witness its traditional finish in Istanbul on May 4, when the event will wrap up with a route including a pass over the Bosphorus Bridge.