Under sunshine and atop the 12-kilometre mountaintop finish, the Spaniard triumphed with a late attack, catching Anthon Charmig (Uno-X) 200 metres from the line. Eduardo Sepúlveda (Androni Giocattoli) finished third on stage 5.
With bonus seconds earned in the win over 160km, DÍaz leads Vine by four seconds and Sepúlveda by six seconds on GC, followed by Anders Johannessen (Uno-X) and Jhojan García (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) at 25 seconds.
Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-QuickStep), who had held the leader's turquoise jersey, was dropped on the climb, and losing more than 12 minutes, moved to 85th overall.
Stage 6 on Friday begins in Fethiye and after 129.1 bumpy kilometres ends in Marmaris in south-west Turkey along the shoreline of the Turkish Riviera.
Anders Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
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Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey: April 11-18, 2021 Distance: 1,347km over eight days Start: Kapadokya, Turkey - April 11 Finish: Kusadasi, Turkey - April 18 Live streaming: Eurosport, GCN+ (Europe, USA and all GCN+ territories)
The Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey became a ProSeries event in 2019, but the eight-day stage race set in mid-April was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic. It was last contested in as a six-day stage race, with Felix Großschartner of Bora-Hansgrohe winning the overall title in 2019.
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This year the race offers a full slate of eight stages, and opens in Nevsehir with a 32.3km climbing circuit that will be completed five times for 167.3km. After two more climbing days, stage 4 offers a day for the sprinters, wrapping along the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea with just one category 3 rise on the menu. Stage 5 is a mountaintop finish at Elmali, while the final three stages continue to offer challenging terrain without a lot of opportunities for true sprinters.
The 2021 edition will have three WorldTeams at the start line – Astana-Premier Tech, Deceuninck-QuickStep and Israel Start-Up Nation. Among the 14 ProTeams are Alpecin-Fenix, Bingoal WB, B&B Hotels p/b KTM, Delko, Rally Cycling and Team Novo Nordisk. Among the eight Continental teams is a European stop for US-based Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling.
In the spotlight this year will be Fabio Jakobsen of Deceuninck-QuickStep, who returns to the peloton after eight months away from racing with multiple surgeries and rehabilitation from a horrrific crash at the 2020 Tour de Pologne. The 24-year-old Dutch sprinter will make his long-awaited return alongside fellow sprinters Mark Cavendish and Álvaro Hodeg for the Belgian team.
Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey history
The Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey launched in 1963 as the Marmara Tour, and was elevated to the UCI Europe Tour in 2005. The stage race moved to 2.HC rating in 2010 and then became a WorldTour event in 2017. Last year the race became a ProSeries event, but the eight-day stage race set in mid-April was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) won the finale of the 2019 Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey for his second victory of that week, hitting the line on stage 6 ahead of Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Sam Bennett, riding for Bora-Hansgrohe, who also won the opening two stages for the week. Felix Großschartner of Bora-Hansgrohe won the overall title in 2019, taking the GC lead with a summit victory on stage 5 at Kartepe and holding the lead on the final day in Istanbul.
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