The third stage of this year's Presidential Tour of Turkey went to Dutch rider Fabio Jakobsen ©Getty Images

Rising Dutch sprinter Fabio Jakobsen of Deceuninck-Quick Step claimed his first stage win at the Presidential Tour of Turkey today as he outsprinted Sam Bennett, the winner of the first two stages.

Bennett nevertheless extended his overall lead at the halfway point of the six-stage race on the International Cycling Union (UCI) WorldTour.

Britain’s Mark Cavendish also made a notable comeback to reach the podium.

Today’s third stage covered a 137km route from Çanakkale to Edremit and Jakobsen prevailed despite suffering a fright when a flag became briefly lodged on his bike en route.

Fabio Jakobsen of the Netherlands won the third stage of the Presidential Tour of Turkey today ©Getty Images
Fabio Jakobsen of the Netherlands won the third stage of the Presidential Tour of Turkey today ©Getty Images

This event is the main target of the season for the second-year pro, who is not scheduled to ride in any Grand Tour event in 2019.

Jakobsen finished in 2hr 50min 12sec, with Bennett, racing for Bora-Hansgrohe, second, one place ahead of Cavendish, representing Team Dimension Data.

Bennett leads the main classification with 11hr 04min 08sec, with his team-mate Felix Großschartner 20 seconds back and Colombia’s Jhonathan Restrepo at 22 seconds adrift.

Tomorrow's stage will see the peleton take a 194.3km route from Balikesir to Bursa.