In the opener of Tour of Turkey, CCC Sprandi Polkowice arrived safely in the peleton. Mark Cavendish took the win and is the first leader's jersey of the race.

“The plan was to try to get into the escape only if the group was large. There was no point in breaking clear if there were only few riders in the front, because it was obvious from the very beginning that the sprinters’ teams would do everything to catch the escapees and bring back the race to a bunch sprint. This stage was a good opportunity to find the race rhythm. It was a traditional sprinter stage and nothing significant happened on the route. Our goal was to protect Davide Rebellin from the wind and help him safely arrive at the finish,” Tomasz Kiendyś said to the CCC Sprandi website.

The 50th edition of Tour of Turkey started with a sprinter stage around Alanya. It was 145km long and included three primes – mountain (Cat.3), sprint and the characteristic contest for this race, “Beauties of Turkey”.

5 riders went after them and got into the breakaway of the day – Alessandro Tonelli (Bardiani-CSF), Mario Faria Da Costa (Lampre-Merida), Louis Mas Bonet (Caja Rural- Seguros), Adam Phelan (Drapac), Federic Zurlo (UnitedHealthcare). CCC Sprandi Polkowice kicked of the race calmly and didn’t put maximum effort into the escape attempts.

The group steadily widened the gap but the sprinters’ teams were in control the entire day (at halfway point the lead was 3:15), as they didn’t want to miss any chance to end the race with a bunch sprint finish.

The chase was successful and it was completed with 19km to go, when the escapees got reeled in. The pace in the bunch didn’t let anyone pull away late in the race and it came down to a mass sprint.

It was won by Mark Cavendish (Etixx-Quick Step) who finished off the perfect lead-out from his teammates. He bested Caleb Ewan (Orica GreenEdge) and Nicola Ruffoni (Bardiani-CSF). All of the CCC Sprandi Polkowice riders arrived in the peloton and Tomasz Kiendyś was the top finisher, in 35th.

Tomorrow’s stage from Alanya to Antalya has a similar, flat profile and in the end also bunch sprint is expected.