Tour of Türkiye embarks on 8-stage journey
ISTANBUL
The 59th Presidential Cycling Tour of Türkiye (TUR) kicks off on April 21 in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya with the participation of 25 professional cycling teams.
The TUR, which began in 1963 as the Marmara Tour, gained international status in 1966 and has been taken under the auspices of the presidency since 1968, hosts renowned cycling teams and cyclists in the elite men's category on a route surrounded by natural and historical treasures of Türkiye.
The eight-stage race will take the riders along the Mediterranean and Aegean coastlines to reach the 8,000-year-old historic peninsula of Istanbul for the grand finale of the cross-continental journey.
The race will feature four World Tour teams: Bora-Hansgrohe, DSM-Firmenich, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Astana Qazaqstan, as well as nine pro teams and 12 continental teams.
Four Turkish teams, Beykoz Municipality, Sakarya Municipality, Spor Toto and Konya Municipality, will be among the 12 continental teams in the peloton.
All eyes will be on Mark Cavendish as the Astana Qazaqstan rider will continue his preparation for a record-breaking 35th Tour de France stage win.
He has been training for the eight-day race in Greece, having spent a month out with an illness. Cavendish, now 38-years-old, announced his retirement last season, but backtracked after crashing out in the Tour de France.
Sam Welsford and Danny Van Poppel (Bora-Hansgrohe), Fabio Jakobsen (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) and Aaron Gate (Burgos-BH) are among the other sprinters competing in the eight-day race.
Cavendish has not competed since March after falling ill at Milano-Torino, but now appears ready to get his final season back on track.
Cavendish is now aiming for at least one more stage victory at the Tour de France before stepping back from cycling, starting the 2024 season with a stage win at the Tour Colombia.
The British sprinter took part in the TUR in 2023, when the race had an early October date, as he returned to racing after his crash and broken collarbone in the Tour de France.
This year’s TUR will start with a 134-kilometer Antalya-Antalya stage on April 21.
The following stages will follow routes on the Mediterranean shore, from Kemer in the second stage to a Bodrum finish in stage 4.
The peloton will move to the Aegean shore on April 25 with the fifth stage, which starts in Bodrum and ends in Kuşadası.
Stage 6 on April 26 will see the TUR’s only mountain finish when riders take on Mount Spil in a first category climb.
Stage 7 starts in Çeşme with the finish in İzmir before the peloton is airlifted to Istanbul for the final stage on April 28, traveling between Asia and Europe.
All stages will be broadcast live by Eurosport and TRT Spor.