With a sixth place in stage 7, Daniele Ratto (Unitedhealthcare) took the points jersey in the Tour of Turkey and goes into the final stage with a 2-point lead over Mark Cavendish.

"I'm happy. Today, the sprint could have gone better. I was boxed in with 150m to go, and I had to brake. 6th place has given me the Green Jersey," he said. "I haven't been far away from it all TUR.

"I might lose it tomorrow but at least I'll wear it in Istanbul, which is a great honour for me and the team, and pays us back for all the effort we make to be up among the best in each stage. We aren't a team with a leader of the General Classification. I have been the best placed until yesterday, but I had a bad day, so today we just wanted to honour the race and to be protagonists.

"We thought we might be able to win the White Jersey with Zurlo, but it has turned out to be harder than we could have imagined. Now, if I can bring the Green Jersey home, we'll be happy with that. It will be hard, because I don't have a big lead, but I'll fight to the end for it."