Rivi fights in the breakaway and Albanese gets a top 10
56th Presidential Tour of Turkey
Stage 6: Fethiye – Marmaris (129.1 km)
Step by step. The EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team continues with its maturing process on the Turkish roads. Another great stage for the blue team, with very good work during the day. Samuele Rivi managed to be in the good breakaway of the day, a breakaway that cost a lot to form and in whose constitution fought and persevered the ProTeam formation of the Fundación Contador. Vincenzo Albanese, in front of the finish line, was involved in the sprint and finished eighth. Luca Wackermann gained three positions in the overall and is now eighteenth.
A short stage. But dizzying. Many unsuccessful attempts to find the breakaway. Luca Wackermann, in a quartet of many kilates, or Mattia Frapporti, were two of the most active riders in these tasks. Almost 50 kilometres were covered in the first hour, without any consolidated movement. Sixty kilometres would have to pass before a breakaway finally managed to consolidate.
A quintet that included Samuele Rivi managed a gap of no more than two and a half minutes. They always collaborated and rode in good harmony, but the presence of a second category mountain pass with its summit with ten kilometres to go kept the main peloton in high spirits, where the rest of the EOLO-KOMETA members were working hard to protect Vincenzo Albanese and Luca Wackermann. Twelve kilometres from the finish line, in the middle of the climb, the breakaway was caught and a new race began.
In Marmaris, with a reduced peloton, there was a sprint. And the Belgian Jasper Philipsen won the sprint. Vincenzo Albanese finished eighth. And all eyes automatically turned to Saturday’s stage. Every day is a new opportunity. There will be 180 kilometres between Marmaris and Turgutreis with a rather winding first half and a finish with a climb one kilometre away that could open some differences.
“Today was a good day”, smiles Vincenzo Albanese. “The team is working really well. I’m very grateful for all the work the team-mates have done for me today. There are still two stages to go and we will keep fighting for an even better result”.
Samuele Rivi, for his part, was satisfied with his presence in the breakaway: “It took a long time to form and once we were there, we went at full throttle all the time. We spent a lot. It was 60 kilometres of great fight. Once we were caught I dropped out of the bunch, for me it didn’t make sense to stay in the group for the future. Personally, I’m feeling very good day by day and it’s the first time I’ve had this feeling in a stage race at this level”.
[ Yücel Yüksek / Presidential Tour of Turkey]
