Tour of Turkey: Bilbao wins stage 6 in Selçuk

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Kristijan Durasek (Lampre-Merida) snatched the overall race lead at the Presidential Tour of Turkey from Davide Rebellin (CCC Sprandi) on the steep climb to the finish in Selçuk after distancing the Italian in the final two kilometres of the stage.

Durasek finished sixth on the stage, while Rebellin cracked in the final kilometre and finished out of the top 10. Durasek now leads overall by 21 seconds. Eduardo Sepulveda (Bretagne Seche) is third overall at 32 seconds.

Spanish climber Peio Bilbao (Caja Rural) won the stage after going clear in the final three kilometres. He caught and then dropped Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) before the line and won by three seconds. His teammate, Heiner Parra, was third at 11 seconds.

With only two stages remaining, Durasek is now the favourite for overall victory.

“This morning I knew that this was my last chance to attack the leader’s jersey. I had nothing to lose and so gave it everything,” Durasek told Tuttobiciweb.

“To be honest I wasn’t surprised that Rebellin cracked. He surprised me that he went so well for so long on what is a really tough climb. There were a lot of attacks and so when I knew he was no longer on my wheel, I focused on going as hard as I could. I focused on the classification and not the stage.

“Now it’ll be important to defend the jersey during the final two stages. I’m optimistic because I know I’ve got a strong team to help me. I’m confident I can be first in Istanbul.”

The 184km was all about the steep climb to the finish, and a stiff headwind also helped limit the lead of an early break and ensure the peloton hit the climb all together. The final kilometres turned into a sprint and fight for position before the turn onto the climb. Lampre-Merida worked to protect Durasek with even Thursday’s stage winner Sacha Modolo also giving his all. CCC Sprandi also worked hard for Rebellin, and other teams tried to stay on the front before the climb kicked in.

Miguel Ángel López won the 2014 Tour de L’Avenir and used his climbing ability to attack first on the climb. He was joined by Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff-Saxo) as he tried to distance Rebellin. However it was far too early and the peloton chased the two. McCarthy eventually cracked and dropped back but Lopez had the legs to fight the steep gradient.

He had a great chance to win but Caja Rural rode as a team and helped Bilbao get across the gap. As the climb eased, Bilbao used his fresher legs to attack and distance Lopez, while behind Durasek carved out his lead on Rebellin.

“My teammates were great in the way they helped set up victory,” Bilbao told Tuttobiciweb. “I punctured and lost time in the overall classification on stage three but we made up for with this stage win. Hopefully we can win again tomorrow with Carlos Barbero in the sprint. We’ll be working for him. My big goal for the season is the Vuelta a Espana.”  

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