Colombia-Coldeportes’ Edwin Avila gave everything he could in a demanding uphill sprint finish of Tour of Turkey stage 5, but his gut proved to be not enough to seal a big result on Pamukkale’s finishing line after 160 km. It was Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) who raised his arms: the Italian was sharp in remaining sheltered until a few metres to the line, and finally place the decisive kick.

Modolo saw off Carlos Barbero (Caja Rural) and Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff-Saxo), while Davide Rebellin (CCC-Polsat) follows as overall leader. Avila was 17th on the day. Alex Cano, 8th at 1.52, remains the best placed Colombia-Coldeportes rider in the overall classification ahead of tomorrow’s uphill finish. Juan Pablo Valencia added a point to his KOM classification tally, successfully defending his red jersey.

Tre escapees – Thomas de Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Alessandro Bazzana (Unitedhealthcare) and Frederik Veuchelen (Wanty-Gobert) – led the race until deep in the stage, with the reins of the peloton in the hands of Mark Cavendish’ Etixx-Quickstep. Anyway, plenty of moves in the finale and the ending ascent proving tougher than expected put the Brit on the back foot, and a crash in the mass dash caused small gaps among the peloton riders.

“Edwin is doing a good job here at the Tour of Turkey, and deserved his opportunity in the sprint today,” Spors Director Oscar Pellicioli told the Colombia website. “He remained uncovered too early, and that affected his chances. He showed courage in launching his sprint with 300 metres to go, but the finale proved harder than expected, and ultimately favored those who were coming back. Juan Pablo Valencia held on his red jersey, which is good: it is a goal we want to achieve, and we are confident in Juan Pablo’s chances to keep it until the end”.

It was a complicated stage for me because at the start, I hoped to get into the breakaway group," Valencia said. "I tried, but the group got away. Then, on the 2nd Category climb, I was a bit behind, so I called my team for help to get up for the GPM. But then a second group of 8 or 10 got away, and the MTN - Qhubeka rider [Songezo Jim] got all 5 points.  I’ll do everything I can to keep the jersey."

Those who are targeting Tour of Turkey’s final podium know that tomorrow’s stage 6  (Denizli-Selcuk, 184 km) might well be the last chance to turn things around. Two ascents into the final 20 km will be the springboards for the GC men’s attacks: last call also for Alex Cano to try and climb up the standings.