Tour of Turkey: Jasper Philipsen wins stage 3 sprint
Alpecin-Fenix sprinter beats Groves in close sprint
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix) emerged late to win stage 3 of the Tour of Turkey in Izmir, beating stage 2 winner Kaden Groves (BikeExchange-Jayco) and Miguel Angel Fernandez (Global 6 Cycling).
The Belgian had finished second in the sprints on each of the opening two stages, but he timed his effort perfectly this time, using a tailwind to go early and then come off Groves’ wheel.
Thanks to his win, Philipsen took the race leader’s jersey from Groves. He leads the Australian by two seconds, with Fernandez third overall at 18 seconds.
The Tour of Turkey heads into the mountains on stage 4 with a finish in Manisa, after a 9.6km climb at 7.7%.
“If I was second again today, it’d have been shit but two times second and a win is good,” Philipsen said.
“Maybe my sprint is not on the best level yet. But we’ve got some time to do some sprints and then go towards the Tour de France with some speed in our legs.”
Philipsen explained how he turned the tables on stage 2 winner Groves
“Today was the opposite of yesterday. I could come out of his wheel with enough speed. The wind was again a tailwind, so maybe I ran out of gears again, but it was all about speed.”
The 117.9km stage followed the Aegean coastline between Çeşme and İzmir.
The early break again included riders fighting for the mountains and sprints classifications. American Noah Granigan (Wildlife Generation) was on hand seeking points for the red mountains jersey and Vitaliy Buts (Sakarya BB) was chasing the white points jersey. They were joined by Peio Goikoetxea (Euskaltel-Esusaki), Umberto Poli (Novo Nordisk), Léo Bouvier (Bike Aid) and Scott McGill (Wildlife Generation).
The peloton kept them under control, their lead growing and expanding to around two minutes as the kilometres ticked down. Buts eased up after the early intermediate sprint but the other five riders pushed on, with Granigan first to the top of the categorised climb after 28km.
Lotto Soudal, Alpecin-Fenix and BikeExchange-Jayco led the peloton along the twisting coast road, with the break eventually falling apart in the final 30km. Goikoetxea crashed on a turn with 22km to go, with Bouvier and McGill the last to be caught with 14km to go. Ahmet Orken (Wildlife Generation) made a solo attack but was soon caught as the sprint teams preferred for the finish.
Uno-X took control with five kilometres to go and Israel-PremierTech and Eolo-Kometa joined them. A crash saw Jay Vine (Alpecin-Fenix) and others go down inside the final three kilometres but the sprint teams were all up front.
Team DSM tried to take control in the final kilometre for Alberto Dainese, but the road was wide, allowing their rivals to move up with the help of a tailwind.
Groves launched his sprint early but Philipsen was on his wheel and kicked hard to come around him and hit the line first.
Results powered by FirstCycling
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets
After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59
Join now for unlimited access
Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Michael Garrison 'fittest I've ever been' as he squares off against McNulty in US Pro ITT
Former U23 ITT national champion takes aim at elite title after Speed Week relegation leads to runner-up finish -
'There'll be a big battle for positions' – Ineos, Geraint Thomas take aim at Giro d'Italia gravel
Local coach Dario Cioni on the secrets of the trek over the strade bianche on stage 6 -
Gravel racing at the Giro d'Italia - Tension rises for decisive stage 6 to Rapolano Terme
May 9, 2024: Viareggio-Rapolano Terme, 180km - Three gravel sectors in the final 50km could cause crashes, splits and time gaps in the GC -
Larry Warbasse finds new motivation with GC Giro d’Italia work for Ben O’Connor
US teammate analyses how Australian contender will tackle three upcoming crunch stages