Mark Cavendish took his third win in the 50th Tour Of Turkey with victory on the fourth stage.
Rein Taramae of Cofidis led the race going into a fourth 132km stage which was from Fethiye to Marmaris which saw Belkov, Mas, Adam Phelan, Backaert and Fedi break away.
They had a lead of 2.16 but down came the rain, causing riders to go down and plenty of roadrash and the stage was briefly neutralised. When the rain cleared and everybody was back on their bikes, Adam Phelan took a King Of Mountains climb.
The escapers in the rain were still 1.12 ahead when Andrea Fedi burst away to take the Beauty Sprint points with thirty two kilometres remaining ahead of Backaert and Phelan.
Six kilometres later and Luis Mas of Caja Rural went on a solo raid but was pulled back so with the peloton closing in and thirteen kilometres to go, he decided to have another go.
Two kilometres later and he was caught and after a couple more attacks, the riders were altogether for the final nine kilometres.
Mark Cavendish, who was the favourite for the stage in the Green Jersey, was handily placed as the riders gingerly took a left hand bend in the rain, some five kilometres out.
Through the streets of Marmaris and Omega Pharma Quick Step were on the front.
Despite the weather, the speed was high and Steegmans led out his sprint train followed by Petacchi and Renshaw and Mark Cavendish was superbly led out and went with 100m to go to win in 3.21.24, two bike lengths ahead of Maximillian Richeze, Renshaw, Sbaragli and Viviani.
Rein Taramae continues to lead the race from Adam Yates by six seconds.
Cavendish said to the Tour Of Turkey about his win: "I was very happy. The team was tremendous. They helped me the whole day and it was not an easy stage with the 3rd category climb that went wet.
"The roads in the inland they get like marble when it’s wet. It was unbelievable, even in the climb itself the wheels kept sliding. Everyone started crashing. It was a wise, wise decision to neutralise the race because there were guys all over the place. It was wise to consider the riders safety.
"Anyways the race got back and we didn’t know if it was going to rain. We said we’d ride and see if it was dangerous and treacherous in the finale. It was OK in the end. The team stayed with me in the final climb and in the sprint I didn’t have to do anything with such an extraordinary team around me. It’s incredible. It’s exactly what Patrick Lefevere was expecting when he put that team together. I’m super happy.
"Yes, to the point that I only had to pass Mark (Renshaw) with 100 metres to go. I could not accelerate any more. In Tirreno, a crash marked the finale or it would have been exactly the same. It showed that Tirreno-Adriatico was not just a fluke if I won by such a margin, it was the strength of the guys. "