The penultimate stage was an up and down for BORA – hansgrohe but ended with an amazing stage win for Sam Bennett. Shane Archbold was in the breakaway of the day, which was caught 30km before the finish. Leo König and Michael Schwarzmann were involved in a crash, but managed to get back on the bike without any injuries. With only one leadout man, Sam Bennett showed his sprinting skills and took his fourth stage win in the Tour of Turkey.
The penultimate stage at the 53rd Presidential Tour of Turkey covered 166km on a demanding course from Selcuk to Izmir. Two KOM´s (second and third category climbs), one intermediate sprint and one beauty sprint awaited the riders. Unfortunately, Gregor got sick overnight, therefore he couldn’t start today. That´s why the tactic changed and forced our riders to make the breakaway, nevertheless Sam Bennett was focused to keep the sprint jersey and take yet another victory.
Today´s breakaway included BORA – hansgrohe rider Shane Archbold. Together with four other riders, he went up the road and had more than one-minute gap. His teammates stayed behind while team Trek – Segafredo and Team UAE took control in the main pack.
With 37km remaining the quintet became a trio, but Shane Archbold was still there with an advantage of 45 seconds. At that moment, a crash in the peloton provided both excitement for the viewers and disappointment for the team as Leo König and Michael Schwarzmann were involved but both were able to get back on the bike having managed to avoid any injuries.
The reduced main group caught the escapees 30km before the finish, suddenly the race came alive. Two groups were built, Sam Bennett and Silvio Herklotz were in the leading group following a gruelling climb, but after some kilometres Alex Saramotins was able to join his teammates. As the race headed into the finale, Sam and Alex formed their sprint train. Sam waited until the final meters and was on the wheels of Alex. As he has already done this week, in the closing metres, Sam broke clear and made it looks easy as he took a convincing win over Edward Theuns of Trek Seagfredo. He sprinted to his fourth stage win at this Tour of Turkey and his 10th this season.
Enrico Poitschke, was delighted about Sam´s fourth victory, “What should I say, the day wasn’t easy for us, Gregor was sick, Leo and Michael crashed. But Sam showed once again what an amazing sprinter he is. Alex led him to the finish line and he just flew to his next victory. I´m more than happy for him but also really satisfied with this teamwork, they showed the whole week a great performance.”
