Mark Cavendish earns first victory in three years

On Monday Mark Cavendish turned back the clock, earning his first race victory in three years at the Tour of Turkey to seize the leader’s jersey. The Manx Missile rejoined Deceuninck-Quick Step this season; he had raced for the Belgium outfit from 2013-2015.

After coming fourth on Sunday’s opening stage, Cavendish was the fastest in Monday’s bunch sprint in Konya, beating out Jasper Philipsen, winner of Wednesday’s Scheldeprijs, where Cavendish was third. The thirty-five-year-old Manx Missile celebrated with his teammates and took the congratulations of rival riders who waited patiently to bump fists.

Riders from other teams queuing up to congratulate Cav. Not a dry eye in the house.

— Daniel Friebe (@friebos) April 12, 2021

The image of Cavendish embracing Fabio Jakobsen, finally back racing after his horrible crash in last season’s Tour of Poland, was a special one.

#TUR2021 – No caption needed. pic.twitter.com/8Zlb8ff6Kv

— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) April 12, 2021

Cavendish now has 147 pro wins including 30 stage wins in the Tour de France, along with the 2008 Milan-San Remo and 2011 world road titles. He has earned the points jerseys in all three Grand Tours. The last year he had more than one win was 2016; 2017 and 2018—the year of his last victory—produced one triumph each.

On Monday, Philipsen’s Alpecin-Fenix launched him to the line. Cavendish waited for Andre Greipel, another veteran campaigner, to close the gap. Cav went to the right of Greipel and then left around Philipsen for the day’s flowers.

2021 Tour of Turkey Stage 2
1) Mark Cavendish (Great Britain/Deceuninck-Quick Step) 3:17:26
2) Jasper Philipsen (Belgium/Alpecin-Fenix) s.t.
3) Andre Greipel (Germany/Israel Start-up Nation) s.t.

2021 Tour of Turkey GC
1) Mark Cavendish (Great Britain/Deceuninck-Quick Step) 4:52:54
2) Arvid de Kleijn (The Netherlands/Rally Cycling) s.t.
3) Jasper Philipsen (Belgium/Alpecin-Fenix) +0:04