Tour of Turkey: Dehairs grabs first pro victory in opening stage sprint

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.

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Malucelli ran the 23-year-old neo-pro close at the line, just missing out on victory by less than half a wheel, while Jules Hesters (Flanders-Baloise) rounded out the podium after a fast finish.

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).

The group never got more than a two-minute advantage, however, and as the stage entered its final 40km, the peloton was closing in. Tekirdag and Yilmaz were first to drop back, while the remainder of the break continued into the final 30km with a 40-second lead.

At 20km to go, only Ridolfo and Dorn were left out front, with the pair battling on until the 15km mark before they, too, were brought back.

All that remained then, on the run back to Antalya, was for the sprint teams to take charge and set up the finish. Picnic-PostNL, Lotto, Solution Tech-Vini Fantini, Uno-X Mobility, XDS-Astana, and Alpecin-Deceuninck all did their share on the front, with the Belgian WorldTour squad profiting at the line for their sixth win of the season.

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