Tour of Turkey
October 06, 2017
It's time for Schrödinger's bike race; the Presidential Tour of Turkey. After a doubtfull few months, in which it seemed uncertain whether the race would take place at all, with barely any race info available, the past week has seen the official twitter account spewing announcement after announcement. By now we've got detailed maps of all stages, a list of participating teams and even preliminary start list. In short, everything we need for a preview.
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| Dimitar Kotev on his way to win the 1967 edition |
About the race
Although recently elevated to World Tour status, the Tour of Turkey has a history going back to 1962, when it was the Sea of Marmara Tour. Since 1966 it's been sponsored by the Presidential Office, and in the last few years it saw a gradual but rapid rise through the UCI ranking. Previous winners include Daryl Impey, Gianni Visconti, Natnael Berhane, Adam Yates, Kritjan Durasek and most recently José Goncalves. Caja Rural dominated this edition of the race, with Pelle Bilbao taking the Queen's stage and the GC lead until he abandoned because of a sickness and handed over the lead to his teammate Goncalves.
This year is it's first appearance on the UCI World Tour, and it's been marked with controversy: originally planned to start in the usual slot in April, it fell victim to a new rule within the UCI World Tour system: in exchange for the big increase in WT races, the WT teams were allowed to skip one or more of the newly addes races. Because of the lack of interest from WT teams in April, the race was delayed until October, unfortunately without much effect: again only four WT teams were willing to participate, a similar number to 1.1 race Veenendaal - Veenendaal. There's a plethora of reasons why a WT team would choose to skip this race. Whereas the April slot clashed with other important races, that can hardly be said to be the case now. Instead the blame falls on the political climate in Turkey. Although I'm not opposed to sportive boycotts in itself -and Turkey's human rights climate would certainly warrant protest- this argument seems a little luke-warm when there's no shortage of races -even World Championships and Grand Tour starts- that take place in countries with similar problems. Nor does a boycott seem serious when it isn't combined with an open statement stating the reason behind it. Lotto-Soudal DS mentions the political trouble, but mostly in relation to rider's safety. In short, although there's reason a plenty for a political boycott, it looks like most teams skip this world tour race for the simple reason that they can get away with it because everyone else does, and the sheer number of UCI World Tour race days is as much to blame as Erdogan's horrible human rights abuses are.
The Jerseys
Like any UCI race, the Tour of Turkey can have four classification jerseys. I have to say, I think the jerseys are beautifully designed. The four classifications are as follows:
Blue: General classification.
White: "Beauties of Turkey" classification: every stage has one marked "Beauties of Turkey" intermediate sprint at presumably a tourist attraction or natural feature.
Red: Mountain classification, self explanatory.
Green: Sprint classification. According to their English language website, the sprint classification is based only on intermediate sprints, but I think it's unlikely that sprint finishes won't award points. I'll update if I find out!
The Stages
The Tour of Turkey lasts 6 stages, starting at Alanya the south coast of the country, following the coast westwards up to Izmir before transferring for the final stage in Istanbul. This last stage is the source of the race's boast of being a race on two continents.
Stage 1: Alany-Kemer, 177km, flat
The first stage is one most definitely for sprinters. There is marginal height difference, although there is a 4th category hill along the route to motivate the break of the day, as the one who takes this is guaranteed the red jersey for a day. Another jersey for the the break is the Beauties of Turkey sprint, which is situated near the Antalya Expo Center after 110km. The finish is a long, straight stretch of flat without any corners. There are some bricked parts, but the road is so straight that they shouldn't pose a problem. Stage for a pure sprinter, unless the wind ruins it for them: streetview suggests it's not as exposed to the coast as I thought, but nevertheless there's plenty of stretches where with a good wind echelons might form.
Stage 2: Kumuca - Fethiye, 206km, flat finish
This stage has got a bumpier profile than the previous one, starting off flatly towards the Beauties sprint before climbing to a 2nd category climb after 60km. Like the previous stage, and most stages to come, most of the route follows a long, wide provincial highway, and this includes the climb. The climb reaches percentages of 8% and tops of just before the village of Davazlar. The final stretch is again reasonably straightforward, with one 90* corner at roughly 600m to go. There's more coastal winds, but other than that the peloton should be able to bring the sprinters to the front of the race in the second half of the stage.
Blue: General classification.
White: "Beauties of Turkey" classification: every stage has one marked "Beauties of Turkey" intermediate sprint at presumably a tourist attraction or natural feature.
Red: Mountain classification, self explanatory.
Green: Sprint classification. According to their English language website, the sprint classification is based only on intermediate sprints, but I think it's unlikely that sprint finishes won't award points. I'll update if I find out!
The Stages
The Tour of Turkey lasts 6 stages, starting at Alanya the south coast of the country, following the coast westwards up to Izmir before transferring for the final stage in Istanbul. This last stage is the source of the race's boast of being a race on two continents.
The first stage is one most definitely for sprinters. There is marginal height difference, although there is a 4th category hill along the route to motivate the break of the day, as the one who takes this is guaranteed the red jersey for a day. Another jersey for the the break is the Beauties of Turkey sprint, which is situated near the Antalya Expo Center after 110km. The finish is a long, straight stretch of flat without any corners. There are some bricked parts, but the road is so straight that they shouldn't pose a problem. Stage for a pure sprinter, unless the wind ruins it for them: streetview suggests it's not as exposed to the coast as I thought, but nevertheless there's plenty of stretches where with a good wind echelons might form.
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| Last year's stage with practically the same route was won in a bunch sprint by Jakub Mareczko. Note the paving that's typifying for several finish towns to come. |
This stage has got a bumpier profile than the previous one, starting off flatly towards the Beauties sprint before climbing to a 2nd category climb after 60km. Like the previous stage, and most stages to come, most of the route follows a long, wide provincial highway, and this includes the climb. The climb reaches percentages of 8% and tops of just before the village of Davazlar. The final stretch is again reasonably straightforward, with one 90* corner at roughly 600m to go. There's more coastal winds, but other than that the peloton should be able to bring the sprinters to the front of the race in the second half of the stage.
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| The wide, climbing highways on which most of this race takes place. En route to Marmaris in 2016 |
Stage 3: Fethiye - Marmaris, 128km, hills
Leaving from the finish town of the previous stage is the shortest stage of the Tour of Turkey. It's got a second category climb at the Göcek pass after 30km, which although half the height of the one on the previous day has got a similar gradient. There's another rather similar climb at the end of the stage. Although it's not categorised, it's got gradients of 8% and its top is only 8km from the finish. The organiser expects a sprint finish, but does this hill offer a chance for an opportunistic attacker? This stage is the first one that doesn't end with a long stretch of coast, and the final 5km include enough bends and corners for an attacker to get out of view of a chasing peloton. We've seen ultra-short mountain stages in grand tours, but what does this distance do to a hilly stage?
Stage 4: Marmaris - Selçuk, 204.1km, mountain top finish
If this race has a queen's stage, this stage is it. Keeping up with tradition, it starts in yesterday's finish town. Before the race reaches the finish at the Virgin Mary Nature Park, there's a lot that the race has to get through first. To start, the stage takes the race's only 1st category mountain. In a stage filled with poetic place names, this pass takes it's all: it goes for nothing less than "Beautiful Night Pass".
Leaving from the finish town of the previous stage is the shortest stage of the Tour of Turkey. It's got a second category climb at the Göcek pass after 30km, which although half the height of the one on the previous day has got a similar gradient. There's another rather similar climb at the end of the stage. Although it's not categorised, it's got gradients of 8% and its top is only 8km from the finish. The organiser expects a sprint finish, but does this hill offer a chance for an opportunistic attacker? This stage is the first one that doesn't end with a long stretch of coast, and the final 5km include enough bends and corners for an attacker to get out of view of a chasing peloton. We've seen ultra-short mountain stages in grand tours, but what does this distance do to a hilly stage?
If this race has a queen's stage, this stage is it. Keeping up with tradition, it starts in yesterday's finish town. Before the race reaches the finish at the Virgin Mary Nature Park, there's a lot that the race has to get through first. To start, the stage takes the race's only 1st category mountain. In a stage filled with poetic place names, this pass takes it's all: it goes for nothing less than "Beautiful Night Pass".
Above is a google streetview look from what's actually near the bottom of the climb. The main climb is around 8 to 10%, but there's gradient up to around 13% after the official top. Afterwards, the pack descends until there's two kickers near the finish: first there's a small hill of around 5% with a steep descent before the pack hits the final climb, a category 2 mountain top finish. The climb is called Mount Nightingale, and at the top is a complex of ancient ruins, including "Meryem Ana Evi", a pilgrimage site for Muslims and Catholics who believe this was the last living place of the Virgin Mary. More relevant for cyclists though is that this Turkish Madonna del Ghisallo tops a 4km climb with an ever rising gradient, from 7% at 3km to go to 10% at the finish line. This climb is sure to decide the overal standings.
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| The pilgrimage site at the top of the final climb. It's a good thing Markel Irizar isn't starting this race! |
Another stage with a few hills but a flat finish line. Taking us back to a standard abandoned two stages ago, the stage finishes along the coast. The 2nd cat climb at the rear end of a stage is a bit tougher than the one at stage three, but it's also further away from the finish line. There is potential for teams to work here to drop the fastest of the sprinters, but there's still a high likeliness of a substantial group finishing together.
The final stage is a prestige stage for Istanbul. In 2016 it was honoured with the first stage if the race, this year with the final stage, and it looks like an interesting stage. It's got a rather flat run in to the finish, with a small 4th category climb on the Asian part of Istanbul. After 54.6 km, the riders take another Beauties of Turkey sprint as they cross over the Bosporus from Asia into Europe. The kicker is in the final of the race: a short, 7% ramp at 1.5km from the line. Last year this ramp allowed for a solo victory for Niemiec, with 11 seconds on his first competitor and 16 on the first group of chasers. If the GC is very close here, there might be a dramatic finish on this day.
Teams & Riders
As is known, the field of riders is not what is expected from a WT race. Only four World Tour teams will show up, along with eight pro-continental squads and a Turkish national selection. ProCyclingStats has got a duo of nifty options: total team strength at a particular race and relative team strength as a percentage of the maximum a team could have sent. It's no surprise that the WT squads have sent relatively 'weak' teams while topping the list in absolute strength regardless. Three of the continental teams, Wilier-Triestina, Gazprom and Caja Rural have brought in relatively strong squads: no surprise as Wilier and Caja Rural will no doubt seek to recreate the success they had in this race last year around.
Astana Pro Team start with a team that's a fraction of what it could deliver, but there's strong names in it nevertheless. Jesper Hansen represents Denmark's hope for this race, while Andrey Zeyts might be the most suitable leader for Astana.
BORA-hansgrohe is sure to leave a mark on this race, even if not going for the GC. Having not finished any race since Milano-Torino last year, it's unlikely that Leopold Konig will find himself back in this race. Sam Bennet is sure to dominate the sprints, with the likes of Shane Archbold and Schwarzmann in his train. Bennet's form is high after winning the Sparkassen Giro and has had a great summer picking up stages and points jerseys in Croatia and Czechia.
Trek-Segafredo have brought a surprisingly well-rounded team, considering. Edward Theuns will be able to contend the sprints, and he's able to get over hills a bit better than Sam Bennet is, which puts him into the hot seat for stage 5 or even the final stage. I'm looking forward to Jarlinson Pantano on Mount Nightingale. Koen de Kort, who isn't starting this race, told a story after the Tour de France about Pantano and Markel Irizar: The very devout Pantano wanted to bless the team with holy water from Lourdes, while staunch atheïst Irizar wanted nothing to do with it: who knows what climbing up towards a pilgrimage site might do for Pantano's fervour!
UAE Team Emirates is the world tour team that has seemingly spent most effort on sending a decent team. In the aforementioned PCS-statistics, they are ranked the strongest team by far, and theirs is the favourite of the race: Diego Ulissi. He sealed the Italian Ciclismo Cup, and placed top 10 in three Italian autumn classics these past few weeks. Before that, he won the Grand Prix Montreal. The fact that there's only one mountain top finish should work in his favour. He has got Darwin Atapuma in support, who could even strike out for himself on stage four.
Androni - Sidermec - Bottechia and Bardiani-CSF have both brought fully Italian teams to the race. For Androni the most notable rider is Francesco Gavazzi, who has been building up form throughout the Autumn classics, while Bardiani brings some more recognisable names in Barbin, Albanese and Simion.
Caja Rural are the defending champions, placing 1st and 2nd in last years edition. Last year's winner won't be here, but Caja Rural have built a competent squad around runner-up David Arroyo. With the support of Reis, Prades and Rubio the team will surely try to thwart the World Tour squads during this World Tour race.
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| Martinez after finishing 7th among top climbers in Milano Torino |
CCC-Sprandi, WB Veranclassics and Brazilian outfit Funvic fill out the peloton. CCC have send a surprisingly meager team, while Funvic have send the best they could, which to be fair, isn't too much. Jordi Simón is their most notable rider, who's only UCI-ranked race this year was the Volta Catalunya.
Last on the list is the Turkish National Selection, who at least top the list of most previous participations, with their individual riders having finished this race a combined total of 19 times. Ahmet Örken, the Turkish national TT-champion who'll ride for Israel Cycling Academy next year is their most prominent rider, while Ahmet Akdilek is the rider with the most individual previous starts, having finished the race 5 times.
The verdict:
Diego Ulissi is the top favourite for the overall, while Bennett and Theuns will dig it out in the sprints.
★★★★★ Diego Ulissi
★★★★ David Arroyo, Jarlinson Pantano, Daniel Martinez
★★★ Darwin Atapuma, Sergey Lagutin
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