Spanish cyclist wins Tour of Turkey’s second stage

NEVSEHIR, Turkey

A Spanish cyclist racing for the Caja Rural-Seguros RGA team won the second lap of 52th Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey on Monday.

Racer Pello Bilbao Lopez de Armentia won the 144.1 km-long lap in the Cappadocia to Cappadocia stage, in the central Anatolian Nevsehir province, in four hours, 18 minutes and 52 seconds, beating 114 other cyclists.

He was followed by his teammate Jose Goncalves, while Italian Mauro Finetto, racing for Unieuro Wilier, came in third.

“We did a great job,” Armentia told a reporter after the race, adding: “Today’s victory was very important.”

He said any other cyclist from his team could have won today’s lap, but the important thing was to leave behind Polish cyclist Przemyslaw Niemiec of Italian team Lampre-Merida, who won the tour’s first stage and leads the general classification.

Niemec said the Cappadocia-Cappadocia lap, in its first year on the tour, was a difficult one. Cyclists were forced to deal with wind gusting up to 45 km/hour.

“Because of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA’s pressure,” his day was difficult, said Niemec. “My aim was to keep my jersey,” he added, saying this was the first time he has felt that way since 2010 in France. Niemec continues to wear the Turquoise (general classification) jersey, but handed over the sprint leader green jersey to Goncalves.

The third lap of the 52th Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey will take place on Tuesday on a 158.9 km-long route between the provinces of Aksaray and Konya.

Organized by the Turkish Cycling Federation, the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey started in 1963 as the Marmara Tour and gained an international status for the first time in 1965.

For its 52nd edition, the tour will unfold in eight stages between April 24 and May 1.

The Turkish Cycling Tour is being broadcast live on national and international channels in more than 120 countries.

The tour route has 8 stages as follows:

Stage 1 Istanbul – Istanbul
Stage 2 Cappadocia – Cappadocia
Stage 3 Aksaray – Konya
Stage 4 Seydisehir – Alanya
Stage 5 Alanya – Kemer
Stage 6 Kumluca – Elmali
Stage 7 Fethiye – Marmaris
Stage 8 Marmaris – Selcuk (Izmir)