Mark Cavendish returned to action at the Tour of Turkey over the weekend. 

The Manx Missile had been out of action for several weeks with illness but is targeting the week-long Turkish race to build up form ahead of the Tour de France this summer.  

With several sprint stages on the cards during the week-long race, Cav is hoping to be involved at the sharp end of things, but he admits the opening stage didn’t go to plan on Sunday when he crossed the line in 15th place. 

Speaking on Instagram, the Manxman said: ‘It’s the first stage of Tour of Türkiye done. My team rode incredible, and do you know what I did? I left my lead-out man in the final to follow another train. 

‘And that was a big mistake, because [Davide] Ballerini did an incredible job. So let that be a lesson. All you aspiring bike riders, sprinters: do not leave your lead-out man.’ 

The race continues until Sunday.