Tour of Turkey: Modolo sprints to win stage 5

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Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) put an end to his run of placings and took his first victory of the 2015 season by winning stage 5 of the Presidential Tour of Turkey with a late surge to the line in Pamukkale.

Etixx-QuickStep tried to lead out the sprint for Mark Cavendish but several attacks made their task difficult and the rising road to finish tested the sprinters strength and fitness.

Late attacker Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff-Saxo) almost made it to the line but Modolo timed his effort to perfection to catch him and win by half a wheel, ahead of Carlos Barbero (Caja Rural) and Michal Kolar (Tinkoff-Saxo). Cavendish finished 15th, four seconds behind.

“I’ve had a lot of placings and so I need this win,” Modolo said. “I always want to win and after the good work I did before the season, I thought I’d get some results. Fortunately it seems my moment is coming now, at the most important moment of the season, ready for the Giro d’Italia.

“The finish suited me, it was about speed and power on the rising finish. I knew it was a massive chance for me and that I had to take it. I’m happy to have won here in Turkey because it’s a race I like. I’ve been coming since 2010, since I turned professional. Last year I had to pull out of the race after struggling with an injury picked up in Paris-Roubaix but I’m here to do well this year. The other day I was second (behind Cavendish) but I could have won, so things are going well.”

How it happened

The 160km stage had a rolling profile and a rising finish, making for a difficult day for the sprinters and their teams. Surprisingly stage 4 winner Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) did not start, preferring to rest up for the rapidly approaching Giro d’Italia.

The first break of the day included Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), Alessandro Bazzana (UnitedHealthcare) and Frederick Veuchelen (Wanty Groupe Gobert). However with CCC Sprandi team defending Rebellin’s lead, and Etixx-QuickStep working for Cavendish, the attacks were kept under control.

Anther move by Sean De Bie (Lotto Soudal), Damien Howson (Orica GreenEdge), Davide Appollonio (Androni - Sidermec), Frederic Brun (Bretagne - Séché Environnement), Roberto Ferrari (Lampre - Merida), Natnael Berhane (MTN - Qhubeka), Songezo Jim (MTN - Qhubeka), Jef Van Meirhaeghe (Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise) and Ahmet Akdile (Torku Şekerspor) was also quickly shut down and the peloton tackled the final climb and final kilometres all together.

Several attacks fired off the front of the peloton inside the final five kilometres but Etixx-QuickStep and Southeast did the work to set a high pace and pull them back. McCarthy was the last to try his luck and could see the finish line. However he was caught and passed by Modolo and the others in the final 20 metres.

Results