Eduardo Prades rides to overall victory in six-day Presidential Cycling Tour
Spanish cyclist Eduard Prades snatched the overall victory in the Tour of Turkey after pushing Andrey Lutsenko into second place in the final stage
THE 54th Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey ended yesterday with cyclists riding through the Eurasia Tunnel connecting Europe to Asia beneath the Bosporus Strait. Spaniard Eduard Prades, who rides for the Euskadi Basque Country-Murias team, won the six-stage 950-kilometer (590.3 mile) tour. Kazakhstan’s Alexey Lutsenko, an Astana Pro team cyclist, came second in the overall standings while Australia’s Nathan Haas, who rides for Katusha-Alpecin, was third. Prades and Lutsenko finished equal on time but Prades’ second place proved decisive as Lutsenko was only 13th on the last stage. Katusha-Alpecin’s Nathan Haas, who had been four seconds down in second and hoping to go for the win today, finished third overall, at four seconds. Diego Ulissi ( UAE Team Emirates) was fourth, also at four seconds.
Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) won the final stage, opting to at- tack with more than a kilometer to go rather than wait for the narrow sprint finish. He stayed away to celebrate with his arms in the air. The last two kilometers were curving and slightly climbing and Bennett jumped from the rushing field with 1.5 km to go. The Irish rider quickly built up enough of a gap that he was able to take out in the final hundred meters and savor his win.
The decisive final stage to Istanbul featured a rolling course with one categorized climb and a ride through the Eurasia Tunnel, connecting Anatolia and Europe, 100 meters underneath the sea. A three-man escape group eventually formed, including Louis Vervaeke (Team Sunweb), Danilo Wyss (BMC Racing) and Preben Van Hecke (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise).
They were later joined by Benat Txoperena (Euskadi-Murias), Nikolay Mihaylov (Delko Marseille Provence KTM), Muhammed Atalay (Turkey), Christophe Masson (WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic) and Pavel Cieślik (CCC). After nearly 90 km, the octet had just over three minutes on the field. That gap gradually dropped and with 48 km left, it was down to 1:15. With 44 km to go, Masson had to drop out of the group after his pedal came off the spindle. Multiple bike changes threw him further back and Atalay also left the group.
With the overall victory still up for grabs, the break group never had a chance, with the peloton also keen to fight for overall victory. Mihaylov was the next to be dropped, as the Eurasia Tunnel approached. The 5.4-km long tunnel was only two lanes wide but relatively well-lit. Vervaeke jumped from his remaining three break companions in the streets of Istanbul but he too was soon caught with 6.5 km left.
Bennett took control and jumped with 1.5 km to go, challenging his sprint rivals. Nobody had the speed or team to chase him. Bennett used his power to stay clear and celebrated in style, finishing six seconds ahead of the chasing field. A crash in the field on a late corner shuffled the peloton and cost Lutsenko a better place and perhaps overall victory. Prades was ahead of him and made sure he finished second to set up his smash and grab overall success.