Tour of Turkey to pass over Bosphorus on final day
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
The last stage of Tour of Turkey will be held in Istanbul on Sunday. Several roads will be closed in Istanbul for the stage, which will cross to the Asian side when the riders pass over the Bosphorus Bridge. AA photo
The 48th edition of the Presidential Tour of Cycling, or the Tour of Turkey, will be wrapped up with a final stage that spans two continents.The eighth stage of the Tour will start on the European side of Istanbul and will cross to the Asian side when the riders pass over the Bosphorus Bridge.
This will be the first time that the Tour will be completed in Istanbul. Until this year, the Tour took off from Istanbul and progressed south. This time, riders started in the south and drove north.
Currently, Bulgarian rider Ivailo Gabrovski of the Konya Torku Şekerspor leads the overall standings, meaning that he is close to clinching a historic victory for the Turkish team.
If Gabrovski can keep his Turquoise Jersey in the last two stages over the weekend, it will be the first time a rider from a Turkish team has clinched the title since the Tour went international.
Marco Bandiera of the Omega-Pharma team is guaranteed to win the Red Jersey awarded to the “king of the mountains,” as the remaining two stages will not include climbing.
On Friday, Sacha Modolo of Colnago-CSF Inox took the second victory in two days for the Italian team, as he outsprinted the peloton at the end of stage six between Bodrum and Kuşadası. The Italian profited from a fast lead out from the GreenEdge and Rabobank teams, as they chased down a late attack from his Colnago-CSF Inox teammate Enrico Battaglin, then launched his sprint late and crossed the line well clear.
Modolo’s sprint left points competition leader Matt Goss (GreenEdge) to his fourth second-place finish of the Tour so far, with ANZAC day winner Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) in third.
The sprint finish came after a day dominated by constant attacks, which began with a twenty-strong group escaping after the first 50km. The break contained most of the overall contenders, including race leader Gabrovski (Konya Torku Şekerspor). In the latter kilometers of the stage however, Maxim Belkov (Katusha), Michal Golas (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and Philip Deignan (UnitedHealthcare) managed to break clear as the rest were reabsorbed by the peloton.