First climbing stage puts Antalya peloton to the test

The Tour of Antalya saw its first climbing day on stage 2, a contrast to yesterday’s flat stage which ended up being the fastest in the history of Tour of Antalya at an average of 47km/h.

Before the climbing began, the peloton was intent on keeping the group together up to the first intermediate sprint. Eventually, a small group was allowed up the road but never given a sizeable advantage. They were eventually reeled in with 10 kilometers to go and the stage was contested by a reduced group that survived the climbs.  

Sports Director, Massimo Podenzana:

“Today was a tough day out with rain, lower temperatures at the top of the climb followed by a fast run into the finish. Our guys had to limit their losses over the hilly stage and the goal was to find a group and get safely to the finish.”

“As we mentioned we’ve got a young group here and the aim is for them to gain as much experience as possible and for our more experienced guys to get more racing into the legs out of this week. Tomorrow there is some more climbing to come so we’ve emphasized recovery to go again.“