Casper van Uden scored Picnic PostNL's first victory of the 2026 season on stage 5 of the Tour of Turkey, the Dutchman proving the quickest finisher from a reduced peloton in Kemer.
The Dutch squad were the most organised in the final kilometre of the 180.7km stage, massing on the front on the flat run to the line and launching Van Uden at the perfect time as the finish line loomed.
Van Uden outpaced Davide Ballerini (XDS Astana) in the run for the line, the Italian having launched a long sprint at 300 metres to go. He faded, however, leaving Van Uden to celebrate a long-awaited victory for Picnic-PostNL.
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Behind him, Marcin Budziński (MBH Bank-CSB Telecom Fort) took second place while Nikita Tsvetkov (Bardiani CSF-7 Saber) took third. Ballerini, meanwhile, ended up in fifth.
"I feel really happy. I think the first few days were a bit of a struggle. I'm not afraid to say it – I was maybe too scared in the first few stages. I had a lot of crashes already this year, so I had to find my feet again a little bit," Van Uden said after the stage.
"The boys and the team kept believing in me and I showed them again that I can do it, so it's nice to reward all their confidence in me and all their hard work.
"It just feels really good to give back, that's what I like most. To give back to the boys and the staff for all their hard work. It's really nice to reward them and also myself."
Overall leader Iván Sosa (Equipo Kern Pharma) held his position at the top spot with three stages left to run despite being dropped on the second and final climb of the day.
The Colombian made it back to finish safely in the peloton and hold his GC lead 13 seconds up on Sebastian Berwick (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), while Nicolas Breuillard (TotalEnergies) lies in third at 21 seconds down.
The early kilometres of the challenging 180.7km stage featured plenty of attacking but no real seperation at the front as breakaway riders struggled to go clear.
The race headed over the first second-category climb of the day (9.4km at 5.9%), 45km into the stage, without a breakaway. In fact, no move would get away until the midpoint of the stage, 90km in.
There, on the flat run between the two second-category climbs, a group of 10 riders jumped clear, with previous attackers Lev Gonov (XDS-Astana) and Mark Stewart (Modern Adventure) in the mix.
Joining them were eight others – Jonas Rickaert (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Timo De Jong (Picnic PostNL), Javier Ibáñez (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Xabier Isasa, Iker Mintegi (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Fabien Doubey (TotalEnergies), Owen Geleijn (Unibet Rose Rockets), and Nicolas Debeaumarché (Cofidis).
The break raced off to a maximum advantage of two minutes as the Kern Pharma team of race leader Iván Sosa controlled the peloton behind.
That gap had been reduced to 1:20 at the start of the day's second climb (7.4km at 5.6%) at 44km from the line, however. Attacks from the peloton would soon put an end to the move heading into the final 40km, while Sosa surprisingly struggled at the rear of the group.
The Colombian wasn't gone for too long, though, eventually getting back to the peloton with 34km to run as the riders sped down the descent towards the flat final stretch.
Attacks on the way down from Nicolas Breuillard (TotalEnergies) and Gianni Marchand (Tartoletto-Isorex) came to nothing, leaving XDS-Astana to lead the peloton into the flat final 17km towards the closing sprint.
The Kazakhstani team, along with Picnic PostNL and MBH Bank-CSB Telecom Fort, massed on the front heading into the final kilometres of the stage to set up the finish. It was Picnic who took control in the last kilometre, though Ballerini launched his long sprint.
His dash for the line proved mistimed, though, leaving Van Uden to burst through and take Picnic's first victory since Oscar Onley won stage 5 of the Tour de Suisse last June.
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