Tour of Turkey: Max Kanter scores first pro win in stage 2 sprint finish

Max Kanter (Astana Qazaqstan) took his first professional victory at the Tour of Turkey, winning on the rising finish in Kaş and then breaking into tears as he realised he ended his six-year wait for success.

Kanter was given a superb lead out by his Astana Qazaqstan teammate Davide Ballerini and then kicked to the finish line in the final hundred metres. Henri Uhlig (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was second and Tobias Lund Andresen (DSM Firmenich-PostNL) was third, with Ballerini fourth.

Stage 1 winner Fabio Jakobsen (DSM Firmenich-PostNL), Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) and several other sprinters finished in a large chase group several minutes behind, after being distanced on the major climb of the stage with 60 km to race.

Uhlig took the race leader’s jersey thanks to the time bonuses.

Kanter punished the air and screamed in celebration. Soon after, he was in tears as he realised he had finally won a professional race. His win came on the seventh anniversary of the tragic death of Michele Scarponi, who was hit by a vehicle near his home in central Italy the day after finishing the Tour of the Alps.

"I was dreaming about this victory for quite a long time and finally I have it," Kanter said.

"I'm just happy. Behind this victory, there are a lot of people to thank – first of all, my family, my girlfriend, who always supported me in the hard times. Then the team believed in me. They did an amazing job today and I have to thank Davide Ballerini. He's just coming back from injury and he probably had the legs to win himself but he worked for me.

Kanter's palmarès includes a number of placings, including two third places in stages at the Vuelta a España. The German rode for Sunweb and then Movistar before joining Astana for the 2024 season.

"Sometimes things have to come together," he said. "In the past years, there was always something missing and finally with the team around me, they set me up today.

"I hope there are more to come. I hope this is the beginning of something really nice. The Giro is coming up and I hope we can show a strong performance there."

The 190.6km stage from Kemer to Kaş followed the coastline but short visits inland meant there were several climbs along the way.

The early break included six riders, with David Lozano (Novo Nordisk), Gianni Marchand (Tarteletto-Isorex), Vinzent Dorn (Bike Aid), Samet Bulut (Beykoz Belediyesi Spor Türkiye), Jakub Kaczmarek (Mazowsze Serce Polski) and Jonathan Malte Rottmann (REMBE Sauerland) opening a four-minute gap.

The 11.9km climb after 120km was the turning point in the race, with Jakobsen, Cavendish and others distanced as Burgos-BH and Polti-Kometa lead the chase of the break and set a painful pace.

The break was caught as the stage returned to the rolling coast road, with the teams trying to work out which sprinters were in the front group. Bora-Hansgrohe had Sam Welsford and Danny Van Poppel and so drove the pace, with help from Caja Rural-Seguros,  Polti-Kometa and Burgos-BH.

Any late attacks were kept in check and Bora-Hansgrohe tried to lead out on the rising finish. However, Welsford and Van Poppel struggled and then Ballerini dropped Kanter off on the front in the final hundred metres. The German then used his speed to win his first-ever professional race.

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