IZMIR

Wout Poels, winner of the 60th Presidential Cycling Tour of Türkiye, praised the event's atmosphere, saying everyone was friendly, and it was a real pleasure to be there.

Poels told Anadolu that the finish line was particularly crowded on Sunday, most likely because it is the weekend and the race is held in a beautiful city such as Izmir.

The Dutch rider noted that it was a tough race with some great mountaintop finishes, but their team performed well.

"I'm a very happy man for the moment," he added.

Poels stressed that it felt great to go home with four stage wins, the general classification (GC) title, and the mountain jersey.

"Stage 4 (Kiran) was a pretty hard climb. Not only because of the climb itself, but also because the roads were wet, so it was very slippery."

Poels of XDS Astana Team tops overall lead ahead of his teammate Lopez

To the question of how much of a challenge the sharp corners and steep slopes provide during the race.

"Yeah, it was a pretty hard climb," the 37-year-old cyclist said, adding that not only was the climb difficult, but the "roads were also wet," making them extremely slippery. "So, when I attacked, I had to be very careful not to crash in the corners."

Normally, going uphill does not pose such a problem, he said.

"It's pretty cool to win a stage like that in bad weather conditions and to be the strongest of the peloton," he said.

When asked about famous faces such as Mark Cavendish and Jasper Philipsen competing in the previous edition, Poels said that each race has its own distinct charm, and Türkiye was a special experience for him because it was his first time racing there.

The Dutch cyclist topped the overall general classification with a total time of 23 hours, 44 minutes, and 52 seconds, ahead of 161 riders, including his teammate Harold Martin Lopez and Team Picnic PostNL's Guillermo Juan Martinez.

Poels of the XDS Astana Team earlier powered to a victory in stage 4, known as the "Queen Stage" for its challenging climbs.

Cyclists raced 1,153 kilometers (716 miles) in eight stages that began last Sunday in the southern Turkish resort city of Antalya, riding through renowned tourism hotspots such as Kemer, Kalkan, Fethiye, Marmaris, Akyaka, Aydin, Kusadasi, Selcuk, and Cesme before reaching the finish line on Sunday in the Aegean city of Izmir.