Mark Cavendish (Etixx-QuickStep) took his second consecutive victory in the 2015 Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey on Monday, winning the bunch sprint at the end of stage two.
Cavendish won the previous day's opening stage to take the overall race lead - which he now retains going into Tuesday's third stage. It's Cavendish eighth victory of the season so far, and the 127th professional win of his career.
Several teams jostled for position in the fast run-in to the finish line in Antalya, with Cavendish's key lead-out man Mark Renshaw succumbing to a badly-timed puncture. Renshaw quickly chased back on and worked his way back up through the peloton. The mishap evidently didn't disrupt the plan, and Manxman Cavendish was expertly delivered to the line by Renshaw to finish off the job in style.
Italian Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) came home for second place, with Nicola Ruffoni (Bardiani-CSF) in third. Yesterday's runner-up Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge) and German sprinter Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) finished outside the top 10.
The terrain changes on Tuesday for stage three, with the riders tackling a 165-kilometre route from Kemer with a mountain finish at Elmali that will serve to shake up the overall classification.
Result
Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey 2015, stage two: Alanya to Antalya 182km
1. Mark Cavendish (GBr) Etixx-QuickStep
2. Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida
3. Nicola Ruffoni (Ita) Bardiani CSF
4. Sebastian Molano (Col) Colombia
5. Daniele Colli (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini
6. Ahmet Orken (Tur) Torku Sekerspor
7. Michael Kolar (Slo) Tinkoff-Saxo
8. Manuel Belletti (Ita) Southeast
9. Eduard Grosu (Bel) Nippo-Vini Fantini
10. Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF all same time
Overall classification after stage two
1. Mark Cavendish (GBr) Etixx-QuickStep
