With the classics season done and dusted it is time to focus on the grand tours and the Giro d'Italia which kicks off in Naples in only 12 days. While the climbers prepared in Trentino last week and head to Romandy to tackle the Swiss ascents, some of the world's best sprinters prefer to fine-tune their condition on the Turkish coast where we can expect some thrilling battles throughout the coming week. You can follow the Tour of Turkey live on CyclingQuotes.com.

For many years the Tour of Turkey was a smaller event for the continental teams but a money injection from the government has turned it into a prestigious race attracting some of the world's best cycling teams and no less than 9 ProTeams were gathered on the start line when the race kicked off yesterday. Held days before the start of Giro, the race is the perfect preparation for the Italian grand tour and while the weather is highly uncertain in the traditional races in Trentino and Romandy, riders are almost guaranteed plenty of sun and warmth on the Turkish coast.

At the same time the race appeals perfectly to the sprinters who have always been frustrated by their lack of opportunities in the mountainous races in Italy and Switzerland. Even though the route has been made harder in recent editions, there are still plenty of stages for the fast finishers, and it is no surprise that the race can present big names like Marcel Kittel, Andre Greipel, Bryan Coquard, Theo Bos, Danilo Napolitano, Andrea Guardini, Sacha Modolo, Francesco Lasca, Gerald Ciolek, Andrew Fenn, Aidis Kruopis, Roger Kluge, Jonathan Cantwell, Jake Keogh and Francesco Chicchi. At the same time the race has to hard uphill finishes, and thus we can also expect a big fight for the overall win.

After yesterday's uphill finsh the GC battle seems to be over and instead it is time for the fantastic line-up of sprinters to fight it out in the weekend. The first opportunity is today's 124km, flat seventh stage from Kusadasi to Izmir and with a hungry group of fast men who have been waiting impatiently since the crash-marred finish in stage 2, it would be a big surprise to see anything else than a big bunch battling it out on the finishing straight this afternoon. Nonetheless, Iljo Keisse denied Marcel Kittel in a dramatic final to the same stage last year, and if there is some kind of disagreement between the sprinters' teams, a repeat is not impossible.

Starting at 13.15 you can follow all the action here. Until then you can prepare by reading our preview  here.

CyclingQuotes' stage winner picks: Marcel Kittel, Andre Greipel, Bryan Coquard

Outsiders: Aidis Kruopis, Francesco Chicchi, Andrea Guardini