Tour of Turkey’s Stage 7 hotly contested in a bunch sprint

The penultimate stage of this year’s Presidential Tour of Turkey played out in an expected bunch sprint in İzmir. With the stage only 125 kilometers long, it was always going to be a fast one and with a hotly contested breakaway. A break of two riders got away, gaining a maximum advantage of just over four minutes.

After they were brought back, the race was contested in a fierce bunch sprint. Team Novo Nordisk riders rolled across the finish line safely after successfully avoiding a crash inside the last kilometer.

General Manager, Vassili Davidenko:

“It was clear today many teams wanted to get into the breakaway with one of the last opportunities to show themselves. It took a long time for the break to go and eventually the peloton was only happy with two guys because it’s easier to control.”

“From their our focus was to look after Andrea for the expected bunch sprint. You could see on the TV the boys did a really good job with their leadout and the team all together. This was important, especially with a u-turn inside the last kilometer. Unfortantely, a crash derailed things in that corner and the organization was lost. We’re onto the last stage in Istanbul now and it’s time to recover and finish the race strong.” 

Andrea Peron:

“I got a top 10 on this stage last year so we knew the finish well. I’ve been feeling good here so was looking forward to it. The speed was so high coming into the last corner and it’s almost like there wee two races, a sprint for the corner and a sprint for the finish.”

“We didn’t get the result we were looking for but I’m glad we managed to finish safely and now we turn our attention to the final stage in Istanbul. The guys are still motivated and you could see the great job they did today with positioning in the last 10 kilometers so we hope to replicate that tomorrow.”

Photos: Yücel Çakiroğlu