Overhead footage shows Cavendish speed, instincts so sharp again | Sticky Bottle

*There was no soft sprint win here for Mark Cavendish, whose speed was incredible and whose instincts were as sharp as his heyday*

The quality of Mark Cavendish's win on stage 2 of the Tour of Turkey today is really clear to see in this overhead footage, below, from Eurosport.

While Cavendish was aided to the front of the bunch by his Deceuninck-QuickStep team mates, including Shane Archbold, in the finale of the stage, deep inside the final kilometre he was on his own.

It was a three-way fight between himself Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin Fenix) and André Greipel (Israel Start-Up Nation). However, both Philipsen and Greipel had team mates leading them out up to the moment they launched their sprint.

Alpecin Fenix put in the same lead-out that worked so well when Philipsen won Scheldeprijs last week; coming around the outside at speed and dragging Philipsen ahead of his rivals and launching him at very high speed.

However, while the in-form young Belgian went early today and opened a big gap, Cavendish's lack of panic were notable, especially as he hadn't won a race for three years and has been very anxious lately to win again.

Rather than jumping after Philipsen, Cavendish waits behind Greipel and stays in his slipstream as the big German closes some of the gap up to Philipsen's back wheel.

*Mark Cavendish was clearly over the moon with his win and it was notable that so many riders from other teams congratulated him after the finish line*

Related News

Lara Gillespie attacks Dolomite stage as Giro hits high mountains

Video - Ireland's Meehan climbs with best on brutal Alpine terrain

And at the instant Greipel reaches maximum speed and just begins to fade, Cavendish knows he's got as much out of him as he's going to and so he makes his move off Greipel's wheel. He jumps hard and closes on Philipsen.

And while the obvious route around the Belgian is around the outside, that's probably the longest route to the finish line as the road was sweeping to the left a little. And so Cavendish ducks to his left and up the inside of Philipsen.

Having timed his effort to absolute perfection - and with the instinct of his heyday - his speed is also top quality and it takes him past Philipsen to a very clear and comprehensive win.

*Mark Cavendish also takes the race lead in Turkey after winning today and placing 4th in the bunch sprint at the end of the opening stage yesterday*

The 30-time Tour de France stage winner made up an incredible amount of ground on Philipsen in the final 200 metres, with most of his gains packed into the short number of pedal strokes in the final 100 metres.

His ability to make up so much ground so quickly on a sprinter of Philipsen's ability and current form really underlines the quality of Cavendish's final kick at present.

Philipsen was perhaps a little under-geared, as his cadence was much higher than Cavendish's. But there's no way this could be regarded as an easy, or soft, win.

He took on one of the in-form top sprinters in the world and comprehensively beat him with an arsenal of skills; holding his nerve, getting his timing right and a huge final kick.

Ireland's Jesse Ewart (Team Sapura Cycling) and Cormac Mcgeough (Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling) both finished in the main peloton today.