Başla!

Today I'm working the evening shift at the day job, so chances are you know better what happened on this stage than I do. It's early afternoon, and one thing I know is that I was wrong about the day's break: no of the KOM contenders are in it, so Reyes will hold on to his red jersey another day. Other than that, I'm going to assume Sam Bennet won the stage, hmm'okay?

-UPDATE-

Wow, did Hodeg really take this stage? Well done. At least one GC candidate got involved in the sprint: Nathan Haas, who has jumped up to second overall. I'd initally expected Haas more on the ultimate stage in Istanbul, so let's waste no time....

Stage 6: Bursa- Istanbul / 164 km / City Circuit

Purely looking at the stage profile, you could classify this stage as a flat stage. You'd not be wrong. Yet, there's more than meets the eye to this final stage. The main part of the stage is like any Tour of Turkey stage: bumpy, but not overly so, on wide highways. When the riders cross the Bosporus and enter the European part of Turkey, the race changes completely. 

The initial circuit of the city is guaranteed chaos. The roads would admittedly still be considered sufficiently wide in most races, but after six days on wide highways, they feel like a veritable maze. Last year the peloton was powdered with crashes, and several small groups were left chasing eachother. And that's before the riders ascent the citadel, where the roads truely turn narrow, the corners fire in rapid succesion, the gradient switches constantly and the surface are a slippery sort of cobbles. On the final slope of 7%, just 1.5 kilometres from the finish, Sam Bennett and Edward Theuns escaped together with Bennett's domestique, Pelucchi. Two years ago, it was Lampre's Niemiec too escaped here, winning solo with 11 seconds before his chaser. Bennett and Theuns were just caught by the remains of the peloton at a few hundred metres to go when Bennett slipped and crashed in the final corner, costing him not only the stage but also the points jersey.

This year, the stage is a lot longer than previous years, starting in Bursa instead of on the outskirts of Istanbul. It could mean more tired riders and even more mistakes. The city circuit itself is a lot longer too, even though the main ascent of the citadel remains identical. There's a lot more to play for too: not only are the time differences tiny, but in comparison a lot more riders in the top 10 are punchers instead of pure sprinters. For them, there's everything to win today.

Sam Bennett (BOH) was close here last year, and all-in-all it's still probably a stage for the sprinters. On the other hand, I can see Bennett want to safeguard his points jersey instead of risk it all for yet another stage win, so perhaps he'll be happy to see punchers who are not a threat take the stage.

Zdenek Stybar (QST) stayed with the front group for a long time in Selcuk, and might enjoy the cobbles in the finale more than anyone else.

John Degenkolb (TFS) likes a though finale, as we already saw a few stages ago. His form is great, as he sprinted to second on today's stage in Manisa. He's hard to ignore, and could very well keep the finish in Istanbul in his team's possesion after Theuns last year. Yet, it's his teammate Fabio Feline who is suited for this work as well and who has got most to win here: he's still within reach of the podium.

Eduard Prades (EUS) has got a lot to win here: his third place could turn into a first place with the collection of bonus seconds. In Yorkshire, the Basque showed he's great at digesting changes in gradient, and he's got a quick finish. His one weakness is that both other podium candidates do so too!

Alexey Lutsenko (AST) is very suited for this type of work. We've seen how alert he has been all week, and his form is undeniable. Like Bennett though, Lutsenko has something to defend, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Kazakh decided offense is the best form of defense.

Diego Ulissi (UAE) allready knows this stage from last year, when he was 7th behind the pure sprinters.

Nathan Haas (KAT) is yet another of those puncher-sprinters in this race: hanging on to the favourites group in Selcuk and sprinting to third on today's flat stage has put him into second overall so far. Is he preparing for a coup today?