The first day of the Tour of Antalya has been overcome without major surprises, with the massive arrival
III Tour of Antalya
Stage 1: Antalya-Antalya (149,2 km)
A frenetic first stage of the Tour de Antalya, completed at an average speed of over 44 km/h (almost 50 km/h in the first hour of the race), in which Hungary’s Márton Dina was the first among the riders of the continental team of the Alberto Contador Foundation to cross the finish line (38th), with the same time as Finland’s Mihkel Rahm (Israel Start Up Nation). A volata controlled by the WorldTour and professional continental teams.
The end of this first stage took place amidst growing nerves and tensions as the last kilometres of a day where there was a breakaway, yes, with the Ukrainian Vitaliy Buts (Ukraine team) and the Australian Aden Paterson(A BLOC CT) as the great protagonists. Portugal’s Daniel Viegas was particularly active in controlling the first few moves.
In this context there were several falls, without special incidence for the Kometa-Xstra runners, and several punctures, which did affect the Italian Alessandro Fancellu about fifteen kilometers to the end. A quick change of bike allowed him to return to the discipline of the peloton. “I was able to arrive with the main platoon without any problem and I didn’t lose any time,” says Fancellu himself.
“This first stage has been a day for the sprint, very nervous, yes, but also, avoiding any problem, a very good day as far as the work done is concerned”, condenses Antonio Puppio. For Alejandro Ropero: “These races are very different from the ones we ride against more teams of the World Tour. Although Israel is here, the tension in the peloton is much more noticeable. There are a lot of continental professionals who are looking forward to it. But it’s the norm. We’ll wait for the climbs to come and see if we can be with the best when it gets more demanding. And especially to help Márton”.
“It’s essentially been an easy first day,” agrees Marton Dina. “A lot of teams started their season here and that always makes it difficult. There are nerves and there were also some crazy falls. For us, everything went smoothly.
The second stage of the Tour de Antalya will be the most extensive of this edition, 165.3 kilometers, and presents a couple of ascents of certain entity in its first half. A priori, a stage where there will be no lack of bets for the breakaway and the subsequent pulse with the formations with more interests for a massive finish.
(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)
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