One day after finishing in the top 10 in the queen stage, Daniele Ratto (Unitedhealthcare) was back in sprinting mode when he finished third in stage 4 of the Tour of Turkey. The Italian had great support from his teammates who rode hard on the front on the final climb to whittle down the field.

"Let’s just say it was a lively sprint," he said. "I found Colli’s wheel at the last moment, and he was on Greipel’s wheel. Catching Greipel was in the realm of the impossible.

"I rode as hard as I could today. I’ve never had a team work for me the way UnitedHealthcare did today. I had one or two doubts about my condition after yesterday’s stage, but all my team-mates stayed around me and helped me all the way to the end. I have to thank them because, without them, I would have given up very early on in the sprint.

"The condition helps me a lot. Yesterday I wanted to test myself on the climb. We wanted to try and I am very pleased with my 8th place on GC. I want to defend it.

"Today I did not feel very well, but my teammates were great and have urged me not to give up. Three days out of four in the top ten is not a bad balance. In the next days? I want to try. And then I will try to show myself in California, which is a very important race for the team, before taking a small break."