Sacha Modolo hopes to continue his excellent start to the season when he lines up as Lampre-Merida leader in the Tour of Turkey. While the fast Italian will target the many sprint stages, Kristijan Durasek will keep an eye on the overall classification.

With 6 wins already under his belt, Sacha Modolo has been one of the most successful riders in the early part of the season and the new Lampre-Merida signing is now ready to resume competition after a short recovery following the cobbled classics. Having crashed out of the Paris-Roubaix, he has spent a few weeks getting back to full strength and he will put his form to good use when he lines up at the Tour of Turkey on Sunday.

The Turkish race is traditionally a paradise for the sprinters and this year there could potentially be as much as six sprint finishes in the 8-day race. Modolo will be supported by his trusted lead-out men Maximilano Richeze and Andrea Palini.

For the two summit finishes and the overall classification, Lampre-Merida will count on Croatian climber Kristijan Durasek who won the big Italian semi-classic Tre Valli Varesine last autumn. Having recently races in the Ardennes, he has shown some good form and will try to make use of a rare chance to lead the team.

The roster is completed by youngsters Valerio Conti, Luca Dodi and Niccolo Bonifazio.

“Tour of Turkey will be an interesting challenge for our riders," sports director Bruno Vicino explained. "Modolo has won a lot of races in the first part of the season. Now he’s recovering after he suffered bruises at the chest because of a crash in Paris-Roubaix. It will be necessary to evaluate his condition, but I’m sure that he won’t miss the occasion to fight in the sprints.

"Anyway, we can also rely on a very fast rider as Richeze and on active riders like Palini and Bonifazio.

"Durasek will be our captain for the demanding stages, while Conti and Dodi could be outsiders for breakaways. I’d like to have feedbacks by our young riders: Conti, Bonifazio and Palini will have the chance to be free to achieve their goals, I hope they exploit it."