Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took his 18th victory of the season and his third at the Tour of Turkey on stage 4 in Marmaris to continue his superb season of sprinting.
The Belgian had to fight his way through the peloton in the final kilometre but opted to go wide and on the left side of the road to find a way through. He got a brief leadout from Cees Bol (Astana Qazaqstan) and managed to pass Giovanni Lonardi (Eolo-Kometa) in the final metres before the finish line.
Timothy Dupont (Tarteletto-Isorex) came through for second ahead of the Italian, while Bol finished fourth. Stage 3 winner Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan) finished in the peloton and so kept the overall race lead.
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With his 18th victory of 2023, Philipsen has become the most successful professional rider of the season surpassing Tadej Pogačar. Miguel Ángel López has won 20 races this season but some of those are in national-level races in South America.
"After the Tour de France, we were looking for some goals. I like to win, and so the goal to be the winningest rider for this year, was a nice goal for me," Philipsen said.
"It also kept me motivated during the end of the season, which wasn't so easy. To be the king of the victories doesn't mean a lot but it means something, so it's always nice."
Philipsen and his Alpecin-Deceuninck teammate had to fight for the win, first chasing down Nico Denz (Bora-Hansgrohe) and then controlling the attacks over the late category-3 climb before the descent to the Marmaris holiday resort.
Earlier in the stage, Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) tried to inspire an attack after he suffered stomach problems and lost 12 minutes on the Babadağ mountain finish. The Australian jumped away several times on the early climbs and the peloton split at one point but then came back together.
Denz took advantage of an easing in the attacks to go clear alone and pushed on. The double Giro d'Italia stage winner opened a 3:50 lead but was gradually reeled in by Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè and Alpecin-Deceuninck, who took control in the final 50km.
Denz appeared to have a chance with 20km to go and a lead of 1:30 but that gap proved to be wrong and he was swept up and spat out of the peloton with 13.5km to go as the last club hurt everyone.
Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè upped the pace and then Alexis Guerin (Bingoal WB) and Ben Zwiehoff (Bora-Hansgrohe) tried attacks over the top of the climb, but the peloton quickly reformed on the outskirts of Marmaris.
Eolo-Kometa tried to take control of the sprint in the final three kilometres, with other teams also fighting for position. Philipsen was isolated and struggling for position but made the decision to wait and go wide, using his superior sprinting speed to emerge in the final metres and win.
"I knew from the 2021 race that a bunch sprint was likely today. There was still a hard climb in the final but there's a big wide road coming down to Marmaris, so it's really hard to stay in front," Philipsen explained.
"We sacrificed the team a lot to get back Nico Denz because he's strong but we made it. We gambled because I was alone in the final but I was good enough to win.
"I was a bit boxed in and had to find my way from 500 metres to go. Then I chose my side. I thought I wasn't going to get there and so I'm happy that I could find some space and go for the win."
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