Published April 18, 2021 05:36AM
Tour of Turkey: Mark Cavendish takes fourth sprint victory in final stage
Cavendish squeezes past Jasper Philipsen for 150th pro win, José Manuel Díaz secures GC victory.
KUSADASI, TURKEY - APRIL 18: Arrival / Mark Cavendish of United Kingdom and Team Deceuninck - Quick-Step Celebration during the 56th Presidential Cycling Tour Of Turkey 2021, Stage 8 a 160,3km stage from Bodrum to Kuşadası / #TUR2021 / @tourofturkeyTUR / on April 18, 2021 in Kusadasi, Turkey. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) made it four wins in eight stages at the Tour of Turkey on Sunday.
The Manx sprinter kicked past Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix) and Kristoffer Halvorsen (Uno-X) to end his comeback week in style. After winning stages 2, 3, and 4, the 35-year-old added the final stage into Kusadasi for good measure, shouting “Thanks guys, that’s four,” in the seconds after he crossed the line for his 150th pro career win.
Uno-X had controlled the lead out for Halvorsen before Philipsen came up late with Cavendish stalking his wheel. When Halvorsen opened up the final kick at 50 meters to go, Philipsen made his move close to the barriers only to see Cavendish squeeze between him and the fences to steal it with a bike-throw.
“I’m very happy,” Cavendish said after the race. “It’s a lot more than I could have hoped for.”
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“I’m happy to get my fourth stage win here, it feels really great,” he added later. “We had an amazing week, we really enjoyed ourselves, and taking my 150th pro victory as part of this incredible team is just the cherry on the cake.”
Overnight race leader José Manuel Díaz (Delko) finished safely in the bunch to secure the GC win, with Jay Vine (Alecin-Fenix) second on the final podium. Eduardo Sepulveda (Androni) finished third overall.