Modolo claims second stage win at Tour of Turkey

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In another all-Italian podium finish, Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) outsprinted his compatriots Manuel Belletti (Southeast) and Marco Zanotti (Parkhotel Valkenburg) on the paradisiacal seaside of Marmaris, where Portugal’s José Gonçalves retained the lead on the eve of the conclusive stage in Selçuk.

“Stage 4 went at perfection but today’s finale was even more suitable for me,” Modolo said after bagging his second victory at the Presidential Tour of Turkey, which is also his second success of the 2016 season.

“Uphill, downhill and a bunch sprint finish is exactly my forte. The whole team brought me here just as planned and Roberto Ferrari led me out for a very nice sprint. After the hiccups we encountered in March and April with almost the whole team on the ground at Milan-Sanremo, luck seems to be on our side now, right on time before the Giro d’Italia.”

It took 25 kilometres for the breakaway of the day to take shape, comprising Leszek Plucinski (CCC), David Belda (Roth), Pawel Cieslik (Verva), Florian Gaugl (Hrinkow) and Bram Nolten (Parkhotel). They got a maximum lead of 4:20. Southeast was the most active team in the chase on Jakub Mareczko’s birthday although they also had ambitions for Belletti, who was the only former winner in Marmaris taking part in the TUR after André Greipel left the race.

It was all together again with 16km to go as the peloton was driven by the Italian continental team Unieuro and particularly its young guns Simone Ravanelli and Marco Molteni – who aren’t related to the former football player and Eddy Merckx’s old sponsor. With 7.5km to go, Lluis Mas of Caja Rural-RGA attacked.

“Last year I attacked towards the top of the last climb before the downhill to Marmaris”, the punchy Spanish rider explained. “I remembered it was a great feeling so I tried again 1km before the summit with the idea of going for the stage win after the other tasks of the day were already completed. We had delivered José Gonçalves to the final part of the stage with no worries.”

The headwind brought Mas back to the bunch. Greg Henderson of Lotto-Soudal was the last rider to attack, in the downhill with 5km to go. “We took the responsibility of the chase behind him”, Belletti explained. “Because of doing this, only two teammates remained to lead me out and Liam Bertazzo has had to make an effort too early, at 500 metres to go. After that, the speed slowed down a bit and I was caught by surprise by the two Lampre riders and my chain dropped. I’m disappointed to have lost the stage. I wanted to win here in Marmaris for the second time. It’s a beautiful place. But that’s life.”

On the other hand, third placed Zanotti was full of joy: “Modolo and Belletti are stronger than me! All I could do was to finish third or fourth, so I followed the strongest people. Like every day, we’ve had someone from the team in the breakaway [Bram Nolten] to be seen on TV. Everyone in this team is strong. My team-mates also protected me from the strong head wind in the final climb so I could sprint and get this podium place that pleases me again.”

There’s only stage remaining in the 52nd Presidential Tour of Turkey. Selçuk has been an uphill finish in the past three years with a thrilling stage victory for neo-pro Adam Yates two years ago. Last year, Pello Bilbao outclassed Colombian prodigy Miguel Ángel López. The Basque rider pulled out due to sickness 40km before reaching Marmaris after winning stage 2 and leading the TUR for three days this time around. Selçuk will welcome the riders in what looks favourable to sprinters rather than the usual ascent to the house of Virgin Mary.

That removes worries from Gonçalves’ mind with one day to go. “My confidence is high,” the Portuguese said. “If I win the Tour of Turkey, I’ll be very pleased because it’ll be my first international stage race victory.”

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