Albanese, Wackermann and Gavazzi paint the Turkish stage blue
56th Presidential Tour of Turkey
Stage 7: Marmaris-Turgutreis (180 km)
Lots of blue, lots of pride, lots of EOLO-KOMETA. The seventh stage of the Tour of Turkey saw our team as protagonist in all its phases: combative, determined, present. But let’s start from the end: many had predicted a sprint finish, and sprint it was despite a climb less than two km from the end. And just on this climb our Wackermann tried to go away, but the sprinters’ teams did not leave space: for the sprint, the team worked for Albanese (designated sprinter, after the withdrawal of Belletti) and our Vincenzo responded by taking a splendid fifth place (best placement of the season for the team). Behind him (seventh) a great Wackermann, who is showing a better and better condition that bodes well for the continuation of the season. And before that? In a stage characterised by a very strong wind, also our Gavazzi has shown himself to be the protagonist of the escape of the day for a very… Eolo-Kometa stage.
Of course, the victory is not yet arrived: but it has arrived another brick, very important, in the construction of our team and in its growth. Today, the Tour of Turkey closes with the last stage: it starts from the beautiful sea of Bodrum, arriving in Kusadasi after 160.3 kilometres. Another stage for the sprinters? It would seem so…
Vincenzo Albanese: “Even today was hard, very challenging with the start immediately uphill: we were able to put Gavazzi in a breakaway, so we started immediately on the right foot. Then the second climb was very strong, there was a lot of wind and many fans, however in the final we arrived in a compact group. We made two placings in the first ten, we are happy: slowly the results are coming”.
Luca Wackermann: “It was a very nervous stage because of the strong wind and the continuous ups and downs in the final. I tried on the last climb but I was not able to make a difference, but I’m happy with how the team is behaving. Today we were in the breakaway with Gava and we placed two riders in the top ten”.
[ Yücel Yüksek / Presidential Tour of Turkey]