Davide Rebellin finished 9th in the uphill sprint atbthe end stage 5 of Tour of Turkey. Due to small gaps created at the finish, the Italian strengthened his position in the lead of the GC.

“I felt very well today, although I had to be careful since the route was not the most simple one. I wanted to stay at the front all day to avoid any stressful situations. It was important in the finale to also be in one of the first rows in the group. I knew that the last uphill kilometer would be tricky and hard. Besides, a crash occurred there, but I managed to pass it on the left,” Davide Rebellin said afterwards.

"It was demanding. The race route wasn’t easy, and there were  many attacks again today.  We knew that the sprinters teams would work towards the end, given the characteristics of the stage finish. I didn’t know the final, but I was told that it was uphill, so I wanted to be up front. I knew I had not to finish on the wrong side of any splits and lose time. So the main thing for me today was to stay up front. 
 

“Tomorrow is the second mountain stage of the race, very important in terms of the final GC. Many riders will try to attack at the bottom of the last climb and I’m expecting Durasek and McCarthy to be among them. I feel strong and confident ahead of that stage though.”

"I’ve seen that Durasek is climbing strongly, although it’s a 4 km final climb tomorrow, with a hard finish. I mention him because he’s closest to me in GC. But McCarthy was very good today, so he could pose a threat. I expect a lot of attacks at the foot of the final climb tomorrow.

"On Saturday, there is a 1st cat climb  near the end, with a descent. It is dangerous terrain for whoever is strong - their last chance. I’ll have to work hard with the team. This is a very dangerous stage."

The 160km stage from Mugla to the famous Pamukkale was another one where CCC Sprandi Polkowice was protecting the leader's jersey. The entire orange eight, with Davide Rebellin in the middle, was riding on the front, being one of the teams to set up the pace.

The bunch was chasing down the leading trio – Thomas De Gendt (Lotto), Alessandro Bazzana (UHC) and Frederick Veuchelen (Wanty). Early on their advantage reached over 7 minutes, but it was brought back down to only 1:30 with 55 km to go. The break was caught 5 kilometers later.

Another move included 9 riders (De Bie, Howson, Appollonio, Brun, Ferrari, Berhane, Jim, Van Meirhaeghe and Akdilek) but the bunch led by CCC Sprandi Polkowice and the sprinters’ teams let them only gain 20 seconds.

The final 20 kilometers were very lively and saw many attacks. They were all neutralized and the peloton approached the last kilometer all together. The road towards the line was going slightly up and it didn’t suit pure sprinters. In a very close sprint Sacha Modolo took the win. Davide Rebellin stayed concentrated and pushed strong all the way to the end. He finished 9th in the first group which created a small gap. Because of that he gained extra seconds on his overall rivals.