Danish neo-pro Magnus Cort has sprinted to fifth on the penultimate stage of thePresidential Cycling Tour of Turkey today.

As the race crested the category one climb with less than 30km to go, ORICA-GreenEDGE had four representatives in a front group narrowly trailing four leaders. But a strong chase by his Etixx Quick-Step team saw top sprinter Mark Cavendish regain touch and go on to victory, his third for the Tour.

“We did all we could to put Magnus in a good position to have a chance to sprint for the win,’ sport director Laurenzo Lapage said.

“We had obviously hoped that Cavendish didn’t come back after the final climb. It was hard one, the category one climb, but his team was around him and it was possible for him to rejoin.”

At the top end of the day, three riders - Sean de Bie (Lotto - Soudal), Valerio Agnoli (Astana Pro Team) and Muhammed Atalay (Torku) broke free after 20km of racing.

With no reaction from the peloton, led by race leaders Lampre-Merida, the trio’s advantage extended to almost seven minutes as they approached the first of two classified climbs for the day.

The gap began to rapidly reduce as teams joined the chase efforts in anticipation for the second and most decisive category one climb that looked set to play a major role in the stage’s results.

It didn’t disappoint.

The break was ended, four riders crested the climb with a slight advantage and the peloton behind was in pieces, the most noticeable rider missing from the first group was two-time stage winner Mark Cavendish (Etixx Quick-Step).

As the first group swept up the four leaders, ORICA-GreenEDGE were well represented with four riders, include Cort who was identified as the day’s leader.

But with 12km remaining, and after a spirited chase by his team, Cavendish rejoined the front group and the 165km stage was set for another bunch sprint finish.