Cavendish wins Tour of Turkey stage 7

Image 1 of 35

Despite losing a minute on the final climb of the day, Mark Cavendish (Etixx-QuickStep) fought back to take a commanding sprint victory on the penultimate stage of the Tour of Turkey. Andrea Piechele (Bardiani CSF) took second with Kristian Sbaragli (MTN-Qhubeka) rounding out the top three.

Cavendish’s team rallied around the Manxman on the final climb of the day when he was distanced by the reduced peloton. The sprinter had outlasted many of the other fast-men, who had fallen foul of the high pace on the Sabuncubeli Pass.

With still over one kilometre to the top the group split, with Cavendish unable to make the cut. After a furious chase, helped by UnitedHealthcare, they reconnected with the peloton with 12 kilometres to race.

After bringing Cavendish back to the front group Etixx-QuickStep kept their heads down, lurking over to the right hand side of the peloton until just over two kilometres to race. The Belgian team still had four riders to assist their leader but that was quickly reduced as they battled on the front with the other sprinters’ teams of Lotto-Soudal, Lampre-Merida and Bardiani CSF. Only Mark Renshaw remained to help Cavendish but he played his role to perfection.

Renshaw jumped on the front with 500 metres to go, peeling off when the line came into sight and allowing Cavendish the open road. Once he’d opened his sprint, there was nothing his opponents could do to stop him. Piechele hung in his wheel for a few metres but Cavendish was too strong as he rode to his third win at this year’s Tour of Turkey.

""In terms of the sprint this was probably my easiest win with a reduced field," said Cavendish. "We didn't have a lot of the pure sprinters there and we knew that. Teams made it clear to us they were going to make it hard on the last climb, and I told them they better make it count because with the team I have with me, I knew we'd make it back. So we just kept our tempo, making sure we didn't go over the limit on the climb. The gap was a little bigger than we hoped, but my guys did an incredible job on the descent to come back. They grouped together, stayed with me, and they rode immediately. It was superb.

"I never went over the limit at any point today. It would have probably been worse if I had stayed with the first group instead of us riding within ourselves. For me the biggest thing I take from today is the way the team stayed together. We did the climb together, straight away worked, and for me that is a bigger satisfaction than crossing the line first."

There were no changes at the top of the general classification standings, with the main contenders finishing safely in the front group.

How it happened

Kristijan Durasek (Lampre-Merida) began the day as the new race leader, after taking it from the shoulders of Davide Rebellin (CCC Sprandi) in the mountains on stage 6. It wouldn’t be a straightforward defence of his jersey with a tough final climb peaking just under 30 kilometres from the finish providing an opportunity to put the new leader in trouble.

An early break of three riders went away with Sean De Bie (Lotto-Soudal), Valerio Agnoli (Astana) and Muhammet Atalay (Torku Sekerspor). With just 29 kilometres ridden, the trio had already built up a lead of more than four minutes. The added almost two minutes to that advantage as they neared the halfway point but with the final climb in sight the peloton turned up the power and started eating into the gap.

Several teams were interested in setting a high pace with MTN-Qhubeka, Orica-GreenEdge and Lampre-Merida all taking bug turns on the front. The pace did some damage on the Sabuncubeli Pass with Theo Bos (MTN-Qhubeka) losing touch early on. Cavendish could be seen hanging onto the back but he finally cracked with a kilometre to the summit, and had a minute deficit on the peloton once he reached the top. The Manxman was in good company and there was no panic in the Etixx-QuickStep camp.

Up front, the pace continued to rise as the remaining escapees were brought back into the fold. There were a number of attacks, including one from previous race leader Rebellin, who went away with Thomas de Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) and Alex Cano (Colombia). The move never gained much traction and it was gruppo compatto for the descent towards the finish.

Cavendish and his teammates finally made the juncture to the front group with 12 kilometres remaining. As Lampre-Merida, Lotto-Soudal and others fought for control on the front of the peloton, Etixx-QuickStep slowly moved up the group careful not to use up any of their men in the process. They finally joined the other sprinters’ teams at the front with less than three kilometres to the finish.

Brice Feillu (Bretagne-Séché Environment) made a move off the front as the flamme rouge came into sight, but the peloton had him pegged back in a matter of seconds and Lotto-Soudal led the bunch into the final kilometre. Renshaw expertly took up the head of the bunch just ahead of the final corner, delivering Cavendish within touching distance of the finish line.

Full Results