The flat opening stage of the 2025 Tour of Turkey duly delivered a sprint finish with Simon Dehairs (Alpecin-Deceuninck) taking the victory at the end of 132km of racing in Antalya.
The Belgian rider's first professional victory came at the expense of Matteo Malucelli (XDS-Astana) after the pair faced off in the final drag to the finish line.
Following a final corner crash in Picnic-PostNL's lead-out, Alpecin-Deceuninck hit the front with a mini lead-out of their own inside the final kilometre, timing the final launch to perfection as Dehairs sprinted home.
The stage, which began and ended in the coastal city of Antalya, was always set to feature a closing sprint with no climbs along the way. That didn't put off a seven-man breakaway from racing up the road, however.
Willie Smit (China Glory-Mentech) was joined in the move by Filippo Ridolfo (Novo Nordisk), Vinzent Dorn (Bike Aid), Muhammad Nur Ariman Mohd Zariff (Terengganu), and Turkish trio Ahmet Orken (Spor Toto), Arda Tekirdag (Istanbul Büyüksehir Belediye Spor), and Yunus Yilmaz (Konya Büyüksehir Belediye Spor).
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