With the fifth stage of the Tour of Turkey being no flat affair, Belkin decided to rest their lead sprinter Theo Bos and give Barry Markus a chance to do the sprint. Unfortunately, a crash almost brought down the fast Dutchman and so he could only manage seventh.

It was Barry Markus’ turn today in the fifth stage of the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey. The youngster of the Belkin Pro Cycling TEAM was allowed to join the bunch sprint and delivered – seventh place in Turgutreis, Turkey. 

“The first part of the stage was quite difficult as we’d starting climbing right away,” said Markus. “Fortunately, some teams took control and calmed the race.

"The final was difficult, but we stood strong as a team. Unfortunately, with 1.5 kilometres to go, something went wrong and we almost crashed. Luckily, I was able to continue. I couldn’t really sprint, but still managed to finish seventh. Hopefully we can win a stage during the last two days.” 

It will not be easy to do so tomorrow. Sports Director Michiel Elijzen pointed out that the sixth stage will finish on a second category climb.

“Tomorrow is a day for the GC riders. Our job is to survive and keep the focus on the final two days.” 

Elijzen, like Markus, really wants to win a stage. Theo Bos was close on the first day, but finished third and after that, there always was something off in the sprint. 

“But we learn from that,” said Elijzen. “Every day, we talk about the sprint and what went wrong during the team meeting. Those sessions are good lessons. The boys are well accustomed to each other and know exactly what to do. Hopefully, we can still bag a result.”