By Emre Asikci
ISTANBUL (AA) - British cyclist Mark Cavendish won a third consecutive stage on Wednesday in the 56th Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey.
"It's nice to win again and three in a row. [Jasper] Philipsen was my main rival after he won the Scheldeprijs a week ago. He was straight up. I wanted to take his wheel but [Luca] Mozzato did before. I had to anticipate to jump as quickly as possible. It was a long sprint," Cavendish said via the race's Twitter account.
He completed the 184.4 kilometers (114.5 miles) ride in 4 hours, 9 minutes, and 38 seconds in Antalya province on the Mediterranean Sea coast.
Jasper Philipsen of the Alpecin-Fenix team from Belgium was second in the stage four. Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB team's Polish cyclist Stanislaw Aniolkowski finished third in the Alanya – Kemer stage.
The 56th Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey began in Konya instead of Nevsehir because of snow in the city.
The fifth stage on Kemer – Elmali (Gogubeli) track will be held on Thursday.
Tour stages:
Stage 1: Konya – Konya (72.4 kilometers, 45 miles)
Stage 2: Konya – Konya (144.9 kilometers, 90 miles)
Stage 3: Beysehir – Alanya (212.6 kilometers, 132 miles)
Stage 4: Alanya – Kemer (184.4 kilometers, 114.5 miles)
Stage 5: Kemer – Elmali (Gogubeli) (160.3 kilometers, 99.6 miles)
Stage 6: Fethiye – Marmaris (129.1 kilometers, 80.2 miles)
Stage 7: Marmaris – Turgutreis (180 kilometers, 111.8 miles)
Stage 8: Bodrum – Kusadasi (160.3 kilometers, 99.6 miles)