"Behind this victory is so much effort, hard work and a lot of support from my girlfriend and family" - Max Kanter finally secures first win at Tour of Turkey

For the first time in his career, Max Kanter was able to celebrate a victory on Monday afternoon at the Tour of Turkey as the Astana Qazaqstan Team star sprinted to victory on stage 2.

“I am really very happy. Behind this victory is so much effort, hard work and a lot of support from my girlfriend and family," the German reflected emotionally in his post-race interview. "I could count on the team's confidence today. They really worked very hard.”

With the team's main sprinter, Mark Cavendish having been dropped, Davide Ballerini turned leadout supremo for Kanter instead in a frantic finale. “Ballerini, who has only just returned from injury, really put in a lot of work. That was really great to see. He may have had the legs to win himself, but he chose to help me," Kanter says. "I always dreamed of this victory, but it had to happen at some point. The previous times something always went wrong.”

“Hopefully this is the start of something very beautiful," Kanter concludes, eyeing a spot on Astana Qazaqstan Team's lineup at the upcoming Grand Tour. "We can also achieve a strong performance in the Giro."