Erdoğan to cycle with ‘champion’s bike’ for Tour of Turkey

“The bike our president will ride has the same features as world champion Fabrice Mels’ [Belgian road racing cyclist] bike,” said Bayram Akgül, a board member of Salcano Bicycles, who is a sponsor of the TUR.

“We are very proud to be a part of this tour,” Akgül said in an interview, adding Erdoğan’s bike, which carries his name, has 20 gears, hydraulic brakes and a carbon body.

The TUR will enter its second half-century this year, and an international peloton of the best riders will join the opening celebrations at the Mediterranean seaside resort of Alanya, where the first of the eight stages will begin on April 26.

Erdoğan is scheduled to pedal during the tour’s promotional event on April 18.

The 2015 TUR will host five teams from Italy, four from Belgium, two from Australia and the United States and one from Colombia, France, Kazakhstan, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain and the host nation, Turkey.

The TUR will start in Alanya and travel to İzmir, with seven mountain and sprint stages, ending with a final stage in Istanbul on May 3.

The Bosphorus Bridge will be crossed twice in this year’s race.