Team Novo Nordisk’s Kevin De Mesmaeker featured in the main break on Monday’s Stage 2 of the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey.

From the start in Alanya, riders were eager to escape, but it took 23 kilometers into the 182-km stage for anything to form. When three riders finally earned a small gap, 23-year-old De Mesmaeker recognized his chance and bridged up. A total of five riders made the break and they built a maximum gap of just over five and a half minutes. Despite working well together, the peloton wasn’t willing to miss an opportunity for a bunch sprint in Antalya and caught the break with 12 km remaining. Mark Cavendish (Etixx-Quick Step) won his second consecutive stage and held on to the overall race lead. Team Novo Nordisk remains in the top five in the team classification.

“It was hard work to get in the break, but I knew someone from Team Novo Nordisk needed to be in it, so I bridged up,” De Mesmaeker said. “They didn’t give us any gap for a long time and I really didn’t think the break would stick. I was happy when they finally let us go. It felt good having our jersey on the front for much of the day.”

Mark Cavendish (Etixx-Quick Step) sprinted to the win ahead of Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) and Nicola Ruffoni (Bardiani-CSF).

Team Novo Nordisk, the world’s first all-diabetes pro cycling team, continues racing at the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey on Tuesday with Stage 3. The 165-km stage serves as the first real test for the climbers with two categorized climbs before a Category One summit finish on the Göğübeli Mountain Pass near Elmali.