The Etixx - Quick-Step leadout train remained fully operational despite a tough chase in the final kilometers, bringing Mark Cavendish to the front of Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey Stage 7 in time for him to launch inside 200m and win in Izmir.

Andrea Piechele (Bardiani - CSF Pro Team) was 2nd, and Kristian Sbaragli (MTN - Qhubeka) was 3rd.

Etixx - Quick-Step brought Cavendish back to a front group with 12km remaining, after the peloton split over the final Category 1 climb of the 165km stage. A four rider breakaway was also chased down by the front group with 23km to go, and the peloton split with about 30km left to race.

Despite the tough effort of bringing the Manx Missile back into contention for the reduced bunch arrival, Etixx - Quick-Step still firmly established a leadout inside 5km to go. Tom Boonen perfectly led Mark Renshaw and the British rider into position for the final kilometer. Renshaw then brought Cavendish to the forefront of the peloton, and he launched to win convincingly out of a reduced field.

Cavendish brought his total wins at the 2015 edition of Tour of Turkey to three. He trails Daniele Ratto (UnitedHealthcare) in the points competition by just two points with forty-six. Etixx - Quick-Step has won 22 road stages in 2015, with Cavendish earning nine of those victories.

Etixx - Quick-Step looks next to the final stage on Sunday. The 8th and final Stage, 121km in distance, is a short circuit stage that the sprinters will likely aim to win. The technical nature of the final kilometers will make the leadout trains difficult to organize. With 1.6km remaining there is a 180-degree turn, followed by three turns before they even get to the final kilometer. Inside the final kilometer there are two more turns before the final 600 meters.

"In terms of the sprint this was probably my easiest win with a reduced field," Cavendish said. "We didn't have a lot of the pure sprinters there and we knew that. But still, in my career, some teams don’t give me the credit for how well I climb. Teams made it clear to us they were going to make it hard on the last climb, and I told them they better make it count because with the team I have with me, I knew we'd make it back. So we just kept our tempo, making sure we didn't go over the limit on the climb.

"The gap was a little bigger than we hoped, but my guys did an incredible job on the descent to come back. They grouped together, stayed with me, and they rode immediately. It was superb.

"I quickly got back, took a breath to recover, and then we went into leadout mode. It went well. I spoke with Mark Renshaw and asked him to put a few riders of Lampre-Merida between Tom Boonen, because it would put them on the front a bit early. He just missed them but I managed to get them in and it went exactly as planned. They slowed down, Mark came around. I was able to jump on him and it was pretty straight forward from there.

"I felt super good all the way until the line and I'm super happy with this win. I never went over the limit at any point today. It would have probably been worse if I had stayed with the first group instead of us riding within ourselves.

"Actually we were humming and ha-ing about the stage because we didn’t know the climb. I said, ‘Let’s give it a crack.’ For me the biggest thing I take from today is the way the team stayed together. We did the climb together, straight away worked, and for me that is a bigger satisfaction than crossing the line first."