Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey 2024, 21st to 28th April

[RedheadDane]

Sprint stages LOL. Just adding to the pike of wins for prolific sprinters, that's all. Jakobsen is a good guy but I like seeing different riders win sprints for some intrigue.

You could argue that Jakobsen winning is a different rider winning.
His first win this year.

 

[search]

It says 800m but stage 2's finish looks more like 500 m @ 5.4% according to the roadbook -

Either way, an uphill drag for the sprinters.

They finish a bit further up the road than last year, when Philipsen was almost beaten by Bol. So it should be a sprint, but probably not for the big guys.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

It says 800m but stage 2's finish looks more like 500 m @ 5.4% according to the roadbook -

Either way, an uphill drag for the sprinters.

Considering that the section from 1k to 500m looks flat on the profile but apparently also has a 3.9% average gradient, I wouldn't put too much stock into it.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Cav & Welsford messed up today, but tomorrow is another day, but a little tricky.

How did Cav mess up?

 

[Rob5091]

How did Cav mess up?

Astana had guys at the front going into the last right hand bend, but disappeared afterwards so something went wrong for them. Without looking at the video again I think they were on the wrong side of the road and got pressed into the bunch as the road narrowed after the bend,

edit add - Cav explains at https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...t-him-result-in-opening-tour-of-turkey-sprint
Ballerini is the guy to follow at the moment.

 

[Rob5091]

They finish a bit further up the road than last year, when Philipsen was almost beaten by Bol. So it should be a sprint, but probably not for the big guys.

Comparing last year's stage 2 profile with this year's, the finish in 2023 was 122 m high but only 116 m this year. The final 800 m have the same average 5.4%. As you say it's the same road so rather then the road dropping 6 meters over the past year, we can put it down to something else.

 

[yaco]

Sprint stages LOL. Just adding to the pike of wins for prolific sprinters, that's all. Jakobsen is a good guy but I like seeing different riders win sprints for some intrigue.

Jakobsen is a different rider, seeing it's his first win for the season.

 

[search]

looks like some teams didn't get the memo to always take it easy in Turkey. Cav and Jakobsen were long dropped. Welsford lost contact as well, but he may have made it back. Not sure.

 

[Rob5091]

Burgos & Polti have been busy at the front, but there's a long flat run in to the finish so all the hot shot sprinters should be present.

 

[saunaking]

WTF. Did nobody tell these guys you're supposed to show kms to go in the corner of the screen, not the elapsed time

 

[Samamba]

How tf did this race manage to get their .Pro status back after just one year at 2.1?

 

[search]

How tf did this race manage to get their .Pro status back after just one year at 2.1?

isn't the only real difference between those the amount of money paid to the UCI anyway?

 

[Samamba]

isn't the only real difference between those the amount of money paid to the UCI anyway?

No that's for teams (Pro team or conti), not for races.
Money helps ofcourse, but there's more.
They got demoted cause they tried to break every riders bones every year.

 

[Landeirovic]

Wow Kanter wins a race!

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Wow Kanter wins a race!

Impossible

 

[TourOfSardinia]

It wasn't a gallop or a trot but a Kanter

 

[Samamba]

80% of Astana's wins the last 3 years are in Italy or outside of Europe (well if I don't count Turkey as Europe).

 

[Rob5091]

If you wanted a new sprinter to win, well Kanter gets his first - chapeau! Left it late and a good turn of speed.

edit -add - Alpecin tried for Uhlig (another German) but could only get 2nd place but now GC leader! Who had him down on their Tour of Turkey bingo card?! Astana are desperate for UCI points as they are in danger of losing their WT status, so they must be hoping Kanter can step up when Cav's out the back.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Lyu Xianjing in 7th, totally expect a ten-paragraph post by @Libertine Seguros now.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Wait, Max Kanter won something? The apocalypse must be near...

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Lyu Xianjing in 7th, totally expect a ten-paragraph post by @Libertine Seguros now.

Genuinely though, the pandemic was a real disaster for him, he was poised to break out after 2019, he'd earned a chance to move to a higher level than the Chinese domestic racing would allow him to get to. Now he's hardly a "prospect" anymore and it's taken him a while to get back to where he was, only now he's 25 rather than 20-21. However, he's been top 5ing sprints after intermediate climbs, and 5km at 11% MTFs on the Turkish calendar this season, but that's been in some fairly weak fields, so will be interesting to see what he can do here in a better one.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Genuinely though, the pandemic was a real disaster for him, he was poised to break out after 2019, he'd earned a chance to move to a higher level than the Chinese domestic racing would allow him to get to. Now he's hardly a "prospect" anymore and it's taken him a while to get back to where he was, only now he's 25 rather than 20-21. However, he's been top 5ing sprints after intermediate climbs, and 5km at 11% MTFs on the Turkish calendar this season, but that's been in some fairly weak fields, so will be interesting to see what he can do here in a better one.

Should have raced against the Sputniks in the HTV Cup in the meantime...

 

[search]

Wait, Max Kanter won something? The apocalypse must be near...

looking at tomorrow's profile, he may actually start a winning streak now.

The Bodrum stage last year was the one Denz won after a sketchy descent, by the way, while now it's an uphill sprint on the main road. So they seem to be trying to change some things, which probably helped to get that .pro status back.

edit: I was looking at stage 4 there, not 3.

 

[Rob5091]

Tuesday and stage 3 Fethiye to Marmaris 157 km, start 11.22 CET, TV from 13.30 CET.

Profile says 157 km but roadbook says 147.4 km and the official website says 156 km! Looking and comparing the map on the website and on PCS there is a detour to the west after the first Mountain Prime (3.3 km @5.5%) and then loops back to rejoin the original route further south. Which is correct though? I'm going with the longer version on PCS at 157 km.

(last year's stage 4 was a similar affair, Fethiye to Marmaris, slightly longer at 165 km and won by Alpecin's Philipsen)
More lumpy then last year's stage but maybe more interesting. Last 3 km though are pretty flat - same finish as last year, I assume

Edit add- video from Stage 4 2023 highlights - looks like concrete or cobbles at the finish so hope it's not wet, and everyone stays upright. PCS live are going with 147.4 km long today, so maybe the roadbook is correct!

 

[Rob5091]

Stage 3 under way in Turkey and according to PCS, Ballerini, the guy who's on tip top form, has crashed - it's turning into one of those years.