Tour of Turkey Stage 4, Kemer, Turkey
14 APRIL 2021
Mark Cavendish has always worn his emotions on his sleeve and his effort on his face, and he shows the strain as he sprints to his third successive stage win at the Tour of Turkey, powering clear of Jasper Philipsen, in green, who finished second to Cavendish in each of his wins. The Manxman’s victories in Turkey were his first since Feburary 2018. The flat stage was easily controlled by the sprinters’ teams, and it looked like Philipsen’s Alpecin-Fenix had control going into the final kilometre. However, the team left the Belgian in the wind too early, allowing Cavendish to come from behind, rounding his opponent in the final metres of the stage. The sprint was marred by a huge crash behind, which did not affect the leaders but did cause chaos. Fabio Jakobsen, who was returning to racing for the first time since his horror crash at last year’s Tour de Pologne, earned plaudits for stopping and checking those who had come off worst in the pile-up.