Mark Cavendish has secured his seventh win of the season. Narrowly beating Caleb Ewan and Nicola Ruffoni by, in technical terms ‘a gnats arse’ (half a wheel) in the opening stage of The Tour of Turkey. He will wear the turquoise leader’s jersey in stage 2.
Mark said of his win, “There are a lot of big sprinters at the race so we knew it would be chaotic, and it really was,” and added that the season hadn’t been without it’s early problems.
“This is also my first race back after taking some time off. I got sick in South Africa and had to stop and get over the virus. Just to stop and reset everything and to now get going again, it is quite nice.
“I don’t think I’m in as good of condition as I could have been without the interruption, but I am definitely happy where I am.”
On the podium he was presented with a rather bizarre prize of a wreath of bananas…. you read right…. bananas not flowers or laurels…. and he did look a bit puzzled.. He must be rather envious of tennis player Angelique Kerber who this weekend won the Stuttgart Tennis Grand Prix sponsored by Porsche and won an err….. Porsche. Perhaps the tour of Turkey was sponsored by Fyffes or Del Monte’ his fans can now chant ‘ Yes We have no bananas’ or ‘I like bananas because they have no bones’ to spur him on in the mountain stages. It could have been worse he might have won coconuts…..
Anyway joking apart, an excellent win for the Manxman perhaps this could be a great season for him…. With the Tour de France only a few months away… He has already stated his intention to succeed in it this year…. after last year’s heart breaking crash on the first stage entering Harrogate….
Last Updated on April 29, 2023
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