Mark Cavendish wins again at Tour of Turkey

The Manx Missile edged Sunday's opening stage by a matter of inches, but had more space to spare on Monday as the Etixx-QuickStep rider lead home Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) and Nicola Ruffoni (Bardiani CSF).

Cavendish extended his overall lead in both the General Classification and the points standings.

The win came despite Cavendish's main lead-out man, Mark Renshaw, suffering a puncture with 19km to go - while Cavendish himself also faced trouble.

"Renshaw had a puncture inside the final 20 km, and I finished the stage with a slow puncture," said Cavendish.

"With five kilometres to go, my wheel went away from me. I had a look back. It wasn’t flat, but it was spongey.

"The train was already working, so I thought, ‘Oh God, if I stop, Renshaw will have done all that work to get back for nothing, so I thought I’d give it a crack.

"[Modolo] came past us early, so Renshaw had to go a lot earlier that yesterday. He was really trying to hang on, and by the time I came past, he was slowing down.

Cavendish added that he is delighted to have hit the ground running after an extended break.

”After a month without racing, you never quite know exactly where you are," he said.

"Me and Fabio Sabatini did some big weeks training in the last few weeks. I’m at the same level as I was this time last year, when I won four stages.”

1. Mark Cavendish (Etixx - Quick Step) 4:21.32

2. Sacha Modolo (Lampre - Merida)

3. Nicola Ruffoni (Bardiani CSF) 

4. Sebastián Molano (Team Colomibia)

5. Daniele Colli (Nippo - Vini Fantini)