Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) again confirmed that he is fully ready to add to his tally of Giro d’Italia stage wins by claiming his second stage win at the Tour of Turkey on the hilly penultimate stage of the race. Having survived two late climbs, he profited from an excellent lead-out from teammate Roberto Ferrari to narrowly hold off Manuel Belletti (Southeast) in a reduced bunch sprint, with Marco Zanotti (Parkhotel) taking another third place. Jose Goncalves (Caja Rural) retained the overall lead.

One year ago, Sacha Modolo used the Tour of Turkey to get back to his winning ways after a frustrating start to the season. He won a stage in the traditional preparation race for the Giro d’Italia and went on to claim his first two grand tour victories in his home grand tour just a few weeks later.

This year it is hard not to get a feeling of déjà vu. The Italian has had a much better start to his 2016 season but again the elusive win was missing when he arrived in Turkey a week ago. After seven days of racing, however, he has boosted his confidence significantly and today he added another win to the one he took in stage 4 as he came out on top on the penultimate day of the race.

The second win came in slightly different circumstances than his first victory which was taken in a full-on bunch sprint in Alanya. Today Modolo used more of his versatile talent to emerge as the strongest in a much hillier finale where only the strongest sprinters were left to battle for the victory but like in stage 4, lead-out man Roberto Ferrari played a key role.

The well-known stage had two uncategorized climbs in the finale followed by a downhill run to the final 2.5km that were flat and technical. Modolo and Lampre-Merida had been playing a waiting game all day while Southeast and Uniero had worked to bring a five-rider break back and it was all back together as they hit the final climb.

It was a Torku rider who led the group onto the ascent and after a small surge from Astana City, Unieuro set the pace on the lower slopes.

Matteo Malucelli took a huge turn for Unieuro until they reached the steeper part where the team went full gas, stringing out the group and creating a selection. One rider did a massive job before Giovanni Carboni upped the pace even further. However, Modolo was always attentive near the front.

Race leader Jose Goncalves was brought back to the front after a mechanical and was back in a good position when Unieuro leader Muro Finetto went full gas, creating some splits near the front. He was countered by a Torku rider whom he followed but the group was still together as they had the top in sight.

Przemyslaw Niemiec tried to set a controlling pace for Modolo before Ricardo Vilela took over for Caja Rural. That was just a preparation for his teammate Lluis Mas who accelerated over the top and with Karel Hnik (Verva) on his wheel, he crested the summit with a small advantage.

A Parkhotel rider joined the move but it was impossible to stay away and the trio was brought back on the upper slopes of the descent. Greg Henderson (Lotto Soudal) went straight on a counterattack but he barely got an advantage as CCC immediately started to chase hard. With 3km to go, Southeast took over with 3 riders, working for Manuel Belletti.

CCC were back in charge as they finished the descent where Henderson dug deep to maintain his small advantage. He did a great job to stay clear but when Southeast again took over with three riders 1.5km from the line, it was clear that it was all in vain.

Southeast swallowed Henderson up just before the flamme rouge and they stayed on the front as they tackled the many turns in the finale. As soon as they hit the finishing straight, Liam Bertazzo did the lead-out with Belletti on his wheel but that’s when Lampre-Merida kicked into action.

Ferrari sprinted past the two Southeast riders and brought Modolo into second position. Belletti was quick to react, slotting into third, followed by Marco Zanotti and Grzegorz Stepniak (CCC). That allowed the Lampre-Merida sprinter to launch his sprint perfectly and even though Belletti tried to come around, the Southeast sprinter had to settle for second. Zanotti rolled across the line in third.

Jose Goncalves finished safely in the bunch and so retained his 18-second lead over teammate David Arroyo. He faces a solid test on the final stage which is also the longest of the race at 201.7km. After a lumpy start, there’s a big category 1 climb after 35km of racing but from there it is predominantly downhill or flat until the riders get to the nasty sting in the tail. There’s a category 3 climb in the finale and the top is located just 10.9km from the finish, with a downhill run leading the line in Selcuk.

A hilly finale

After yesterday’s queen stage, it was time for a Tour of Turkey classic as the riders travelled 128.6km from Fethiye to Marmaris. After a flat start, there was a category 3 climb in the first half before flat roads led to the difficult finale where the riders went up two uncategorized ascents inside the final 30km. The final top was located 8km from the finish and then a fast descent led to the final 2.5km which were mainly flat.

Xu Gang (Lampre-Merida) and Maxim Satlikov (Astana) were both absent when the other 99 riders gathered for the start of the penultimate stage under a sunny sky. As soon as the flag was dropped, the attacking started in what turned out to be a fast and aggressive opening phase. Torku and Hrinkow took off immediately and after the first skirmishes two riders got clear. 10 riders took off in pursuit and suddenly it was a big 13-rider group that had gathered. That was too dangerous though and so things came back together after 18km of racing.

Five riders get clear

At the 20km mark, Leszek Plucinski (CCC),  David Belda (Roth), Sven Van Luijk (Parkhotel), Bram Nolten (Parkhotel) and Marco Molteni (Uniero) managed to escape but they only stayed away for two kilometres Instead, it was another quintet that went clear and again Belda, Plucinski and Nolten were part of the action. This time they had Florian Gaugl (Hrinkow) and Pawel Cieslik for company ad they worked well together to extend their advantage to more than a minute at the 25km mark.

Having covered just 36km during the first hour, the leaders were 2.40 ahead after 40km of racing and the gap went out to more than four minutes. However, the chase soon got going and it was down to 2.58 after 50km of racing. It was the Southeast of Manuel Belletti who is a former winner of this stage, that put a few riders on the front and together with former race leader Pello Bilbao, they started to control the situation. For a few kilometres, they kept the gap between 2.30 and 3.00 while Cieslik beat Plucinski and Gaugl in the KOM sprint.

Bilbao abandons

With 60km to go, the gap was still 2.35 and there was no big stress. Hence, Unieuro sprinter Matteo Malucelli could easily rejoin the bunch after he had gone down in a small solo crash.

Nolten and Gaugl sprinted for the points in the first intermediate sprint which was easily won by the Dutchman while Cieslik rolled across the line in third. Meanwhile, Bilbao and two Southeast riders worked solidly on the front until Bilbao who still hasn’t recovered from his health issues, swung off with 41km to go. The former leader decided to step off, leaving Caja Rural with just six riders for the rest of the race.

Unieuro take control

Mirko Tedeschi (Southeast) was the only rider doing the work as they entered the final 40km but very soon Uniero gathered their team on the front and started to cooperate with the Italian. Just five kilometres later, the gap had already been reduced to 1.55.

Unieuro took complete control and had brought it down to just a minute when the escapees contested the Turkish Beauty Sprint with 28km to go. Nolten easily beat Cieslik while Gaugl rolled across the line in third.

Cieslik attacks repeatedly

Cieslik decided to continue his effort with a solo attack but his companions easily reeled him in. However, the cooperation was gone and it was Gaugl who was the next to try. Belda joined him before Cieslik brought the group back together as they went up the first of the two late climbs. The Pole also tried to accelerate but had no luck.

Cieslik went again and this time he managed to distance Gaugl but as they kept watching each other, the Austrian rejoined the group. Belda tried to get the cooperation going but it was a very disorganized quintet that reached the top with an advantage of 1.05.

The break is caught

Torku and Domingos Goncalves (Caja Rural) lent Uniero a hand and so the gap was melting away. With Nolten just following wheels in the front group, the quintet only had a 30-second advantage with 17km to go. They quickly decided to sit up and with 15km to go, it was all back together.

Unieuro, Torku and Goncalves kept the pace high as they sped towards the bottom of the final climb. It was the Torku rider who led the group onto the ascent but their efforts were in vain as it was Modolo who came out triumphant.