Max Richeze takes victory and GC lead at Tour of Turkey
Oct 09 2018 06:49 pm CET
Quick-Step Floors jersey ©Sigfrid Eggers
Max Richeze (Quick-Step Floors) has taken the victory at the first stage of the Tour of Turkey. The Argentinean crossed the finish line ahead of Sam Bennet and Jempy Drucker.
The first stage of the Turkish race was 148.4 kilometres long from and to Konya over a hilly profile that included one climb of the second category and one of the third. The escape of the day formed in the first kilometres and included riders like Nicolas Sessler, Ander Barrentxea and Kenneth Van Rooy, among others.
Behind them, teams with sprinters like Quick-Step Floors and Bora-hansgrohe set the pace to control the gap with the front group. At around 13 kilometres to go, all the escapees were reeled back in and the sprint trains started organising to put their riders in the best position ahead of the final metres.
At around seven kilometres to go, Burgos-BH's Diego Rubio tried his luck but was soon caught by the pack. With around four kilometres to go, Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) hit the deck and his team continued to attempt taking the stage victory with another sprinter.
The Belgian team arrived with enough riders and Max Richeze took the lead of the train for Alvaro Hodeg. The Colombian made a mistake in the last curve and caused a break in the line that allowed Richeze to go by himself while Jempy Drucker (BMC) and Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) tried to catch him.
The Argentinian crossed the finish line by himself and Bennett and Drucker took the second and third positions of the day, respectively. Gaviria finished the stage being unable to put both of his hands on the handlebars which raised fears of a collarbone fracture.
SUBSCRIBE TO RSS FEEDSMAXIMILIANO ARIEL RICHEZE
QUICK - STEP FLOORS
PRESIDENTIAL CYCLING TOUR OF TURKEY
