Belletti strikes in Marmaris

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Italy's Manuel Belletti (Colnago-CSF Inox) confirmed he is on form for the rapidly approaching Giro d'Italia by winning the third stage of the Presidential Tour of Turkey in Marmaris. It was his third win this year after taking stage 3 of the Giro della provincial di Reggio Calabria in January and stage 1 of the Settimana Coppi e Bartali in March.

"To get this win with the Giro d'Italia around the corner is the best thing I could have expected," Belletti told Cyclingnews in Marmaris. "Without any doubt, my experience of the Tour of Turkey has helped me to win today's stage. This is my third participation. I knew this stage and I didn't hide that it was my favourite one."

The Astana team of race leader Valentin Iglinskiy didn't stick to their plan of sending a rider in the breakaway, so they had to assume their responsibilities and set the pace at the head of bunch behind Arthur Vichot (FDJ), Yoann Bagot (Cofidis), Luis Felipe Laverde (Colombia ès passion) and Marek Canecky (Manisaspor) who went clear after 22 kilometres of racing. They reached a maximum advantage of six minutes with 50km to go, until Lampre-ISD was the first sprinters' team to start chasing.

The blue-fuchsia team did most of the work and reduced the gap to less than one minute with 15 kilometres to go. Vichot, Bagot and Laverde had dropped Canecky off 39km before the finishing line. The trio were caught by the bunch with only 11km remaining.

Oscar Gatto (Farnese Vini-Neri-Sottoli), Alexandr Dyachenko (Astana) and Sandy Casar (FDJ) accelerated at the head of the bunch and created some splits. Not all the sprinters managed to stay in the first group and the stage victory was contested by only half of the bunch.

Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD) and Andre Greipel (Omega Pharma-Lotto) were still up there but for the third day in a row, they were dominated by lesser known sprinters. However, Belletti's win didn't come down to chance.

"My team kept me out of trouble in the first positions in the final climb, so I could sprint without any complications," Belletti said.

He wasn't worried about the moves of Canada's Svein Tuft (Spidertech) who tried to anticipate the sprint with a strong solo acceleration and the behaviour of Australia's Wesley Sulzberger (FDJ) who was very focused, looking at every move at the head of the bunch to take his first result of the 2011 season.

"These two riders actually helped as points of reference," Belletti explained. "I was feeling well and it was already my plan to start sprinting with 300 metres to go. Roberto Ferrari from Androni Giocattoli could only watch the back wheel of his compatriot: "I started sprinting behind Belletti at the 250m to go mark but I never managed to bridge this gap. I was hoping to win today but I'm satisfied anyway because it shows that my condition is good for the Giro d'Italia."

Sulzberger gave a similar comment: "It would have been good to have a better position at the end but I'm happy with third."

After three days, Belletti has become the third leader of the Tour of Turkey ahead of stage 4 from Marmaris to Pamukkale (207km), which is considered the queen stage of the Presidential Tour of Turkey, heading inland towards the UNESCO world heritage site where Giovanni Visconti built his overall victory last year.

Light showers are expected and it might make the race even harder and more spectacular. "We'll see how it goes tomorrow," Belletti added. "I didn't come here for riding GC but now I'll try to keep the turquoise jersey. But if I happen to lose it, I hope it'll go to one of my teammates. I have in mind to do well at the beginning of the Giro d'Italia because some stages suit me in the first two weeks, so I'm here in Turkey to hard for being strong at the Giro but I also don't want to arrive cooked."