Stage two at the Tour of Turkey took the riders from yesterday’s finish in Tekirdag over 183km up to the National Park in Eceabat. BORA – hansgrohe with its overall race leader Sam Bennett, went into today’s stage aiming to defend at least the sprint jersey. Like yesterday, a group of seven riders went up the road to open up a gap of four minutes, while BORA – hansgrohe taking once again control over the peloton. Approaching the final 30km of the race, the bunch started to increase the tempo, and with the gap now dropping steadily, the race was all back together with 20 km to go. Heading into the last 5 km it was Shane Archbold, who increased the pace significantly in order to position his teammates for the final uphill stretch of the day. Just a selected group was left at the front when Lukas Pöstlberger launched an attack, two kilometres before the line, while this move allowed Sam Bennett to sit on his rivals’ wheels. Lukas was about to be caught with just 200 meters to go, at that moment Bennett took off irresistible to win yet another stage at the Tour of Turkey. Right behind him Felix Großschartner came in second to make it a one and two for BORA – hansgrohe. With this result Bennett also retains the leaders’ and points’ jersey of the race.
Results
01 S. Bennett 4:41:48
02 F. Großschartner +0:00
03 J. Restrepo +0:00
From the Finish Line
“It was an amazing day. We had different cards to play in today’s stage and I think our tactic worked out quite well. While Shane and Schwarzi were pulling a lot, Lukas launched an attack at the end. With Sam and myself finishing on the podium, I think we can be more than satisfied with today’s result and I want to say thank you to the whole team for their work. I feel good and I am looking forward to the upcoming days.” – Felix Großschartner
“I am delighted to take yet another stage win here, my ninth now. Big thanks to the BORA – hansgrohe crew for all their efforts, yesterday and today. I said to my guys, that they should go and I will tell them on the climb if I feel strong enough or not cause the stage wasn’t so easy with the finale. Well, I pushed hard and with Felix finishing in second place I think we showed another amazing team effort.” – Sam Bennett
“Second day, second stage win and a strong second place. They guys did again a great job today. Sam defended and expanded his lead in the overall and sprint classification, but also Felix showed a strong performance to gain some seconds for the GC. The guys worked together from the start to the finish and everyone is fighting for each other. It is great to see such a strong teamwork. We are happy, but we will still give our best also in the upcoming stages.” – André Schulze, Sports Director
