Wednesday 17 April 2019 06:51, UK
Ireland's Sam Bennett has won the opening stage of the 55th Tour of Turkey.
Bennett, riding for the Bora-Hansgrohe team, won the 97.5-mile stage from Istanbul to the coastal city of Tekirdag.
The Stage came down to a final sprint with Bennett pipping Fabio Jakobsen of the Netherlands in the final few metres, winning in a time of three hours, 32.34 seconds.
Bennett won three of the six stages in last year's event and in doing so won the points classification green jersey.
Australia's Caleb Ewan took third place for Lotto Soudal ahead of Romania's Eduard Grosu and Italy's Simone Consonni.
Former world champion Mark Cavendish, who is continuing his recovery from the Eppstein-Bar virus, never featured in the closing stages and finished outside the top ten.
