Lotto Soudal made up for yesterday’s huge disappointment by delivering a real masterpiece in a very windy third stage of the Tour of Turkey. Having split the peloton to pieces, they had six riders in the 8-rider group that sprinted for the win and it was an easy task for André Greipel to beat Alberto Cecchin (Roth) and his teammate Kris Boeckmans in the final dash to the line. Pello Bilbao (Caja Rural) finished in the second group but as Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre-Merida) lost more than 20 minutes, he moved into the leader’s jersey.

 

We have gathered several reactions.

 

André Greipel: I asked the sports director to let one of my teammates win

The third stage of this year’s Tour of Turkey became a race to remember. Lotto Soudal rode aggressively right from the beginning and due to the strong wind echelons were formed so the peloton split in several groups. Eventually a front group of 24 riders was formed, the entire Lotto Soudal team was represented in the front of the race.

 

25 kilometres from the finish Lotto Soudal accelerated in the front group. Eight riders with among others André Greipel, Kris Boeckmans, Gert Dockx, Stig Broeckx, Frederik Frison and Greg Henderson managed to get away. A team time trial of about twenty kilometres followed. André Greipel easily finished off a stunning team performance in the sprint, the strong German obtained his third victory of the season. Kris Boeckmans nicely finished at the third place. Lotto Soudal really dominated the stage and eventually six riders ended in the top eight.

 

André Greipel said: “It’s great to take the victory after such a strong race of the team. This win is also good for the head after all the bad luck I had this season. I am not one hundred per cent yet, my calf is still swollen and a bit stiff after crashing on Sunday, but it didn’t keep me from winning today.

 

“The team performance was quite impressive. It would have been nice as well if one of the teammates had won. Kris Boeckmans deserved it for sure as it was so impressive that he was part of the front group. It would have been emotional if he had won, but we stuck to the plan and I did the sprint. It may have looked easy on TV but it was a hard race with a speed of up to fifty kilometres an hour in the beginning. We addressed our echelon skills today and it couldn’t have ended better than it did.

 

"For sure it was an advantage for us that we are used to riding in echelons. In the beginning it was a bit of a mess. It was super windy, rain... Adam and I were a bit stuck behind, 20-30m behind my team mates. I waited a bit, then we went again in the echelon. In the end, we forced the others to ride with us. Thankfully everyone was working quite quickly in our group, Then, with 25km to go, we tried one more time. It was a nice team effort.

 

"It's a shame that just one of us can stay on the podium. I tried to convince my DS to let somebody else win. He said we had a plan this morning, the plan was winning the race with me, and we should stick to it. My team-mates supported me during the stage. I'm happy with the win.

 

”Emotionally, I wanted to give the win to Kris Boeckmans because he has come a long way to get back into condition. We can be proud that he is able to be there with us today.

 

"Everybody knows that, when it's raining, the roads are slippery here. It was a bit of a mess coming out of the city. The bunch was lined up .We stayed together and tried to force a small group. It worked out. I think we were 25 guys, we worked together quite good, 65-70km fighting with a 1 minute advantage. Then we succeeded. The group behind us sat up, and we could ride all together towards the finish. The wind was so strong at times, it was hard just to stay on the bike.

 

"We are here to try to do our best and there are a few more chances to win another stage, and that's what we are trying to do."

 

Mario Aerts: We couldn’t make the gamble to go for the win with Boeckmans

Mario Aerts, sports director, added: “We decided to form echelons right from the beginning of the stage. Firstly, André Greipel and Adam Hansen weren’t represented in the echelon so the other riders waited. At the second attempt, our whole team managed to be part of the first group of about 24 riders. The other riders from other teams also did their work but we were the most aggressive team in the front group.

 

”At a certain moment, Ferrari started to gamble and he stopped riding with us. He is a strong sprinter as well. We really wanted to give full gas because Adam was able to gain a lot of places on GC, therefore we decided to form another echelon in the final 25 kilometres. Unfortunately Adam was unable to follow. In the end, André finished off a strong team performance.

 

“Stig Broeckx, Gert Dockx and Greg Henderson have just returned to competition after an injury but they perform really well here in Turkey. Of course it’s fantastic to see Kris Boeckmans perform like this as well. He only rode a few races before this race and it’s also his first stage race (Kris abandoned the Vuelta a Catalunya in the first stage, LTS). It’s just amazing and also unexpected that he was able to obtain the third place today. This was a very hard stage, I’m really surprised about the progress he’s making. I’m really happy for him.

 

”We thought for a while that we could try to obtain the stage victory with Kris. But we didn’t want to take the risk with the two riders of Team Roth in the front group. It’s never good to underestimate your opponents. Kris and the team are very pleased with this third place.

 

“In my opinion, it’s still possible to obtain a top ten place on GC and we also would like to win another stage. Today we raced like we really want, by making the race interesting for the spectators. We also raced like that in the Spring Classics. I’m convinced that the fans enjoyed this race.”

 

Kris Boeckmans after third place in Turkey: My rebirth took nine months

Third placed Kris Boeckmans (Lotto-Soudal) said: “It’s been a race from the start right till the very end! I’ve saved myself to come up with the third place that means a lot to me. It’s been almost nine months since my crash at the Vuelta a España. A baby also takes nine months to gestate. My rebirth also took nine months.

 

”The weather conditions enabled us to ride like that as a team. We pulled as hard as possible for five minutes to create that front group, then with 25km to go, we did it again the same way the whole team together. For me, it was close, I’ve been the last one to make the first split.”

 

Alberto Cecchin makes it a fantastic day for Roth in windy Turkey

Second placed Alberto Cecchin (Team Roth) said: “My stage result couldn’t be any better than this against such a strong Lotto-Soudal team. Beating André Greipel would have been difficult if not impossible. It’s a good performance for my team, for our sponsors and our directors. Exactly one year ago, we were riding the [UCI 2.2] Tour de Bretagne. In terms of category of racing, this is the best result of my career so far. With my team-mate [Nicola Toffali], we stayed near Lotto-Soudal because we could feel that sooner or later they’d create one more echelon. We were ready!”

 

Przemyslaw Niemiec loses 25 minutes in Turkish wind

The wind tore the leader jersey of the Tour of Turkey off the shoulders of Niemiec. Niemiec could not join the attack and for Lampre-Merida only Roberto Ferrari avoided to be stuck in the chasing group.

 

In the end, Ferrari was 9th at 2’14”. Niemiec lost his ambitions for the general classification, crossing the finish line with a loss of 25’02’ to the winner.

 

Young Pole impresses in Turkish crosswinds

VERVA Activejet's Adrian Banaszek finished 11th in stage 3 of 2016 Tour of Turkey. The team lost Paweł Charucki who came down with a pharyngitis and did not make a start today.

 

Adrian Banaszek represented VERVA Activejet’s colour. The rest of the VERVA Activejet riders rode in the first chase group, while peloton and race leader Przemysław Niemiec (Lampre-Merida) lost ground and even more time.

 

Lotto Soudal attacked once again with 30 kilometres remaining. Forming an echelon put some in difficulty and forced others off the road. 22-year-old Banaszek stayed focused and was originally able to follow but later was closed at the edge of the road and forced off the asphalt.

 

“Tough luck. I went off the road and had to ride on the gravel since the road surface was a bit too high to rejoin immediately. Lotto set a high pace and I just couldn't make it back. It was an incredibly hard stage, so I'm happy with 11th place,” he commented.

 

Pello Bilbao (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) leads the overall standings while VERVA Activejet's Karel Hnik is 17th.

 

Pello Bilbao: After such a stage, you can’t say that the GC is a done deal

After the outstanding performance on stage 2, Caja Rural - Seguros RGA continue to impress in Tour of Turkey. In very difficult weather conditions, the peloton blew apart again on stage 3, leaving a select group of just 24 riders at the front. Represented by Pello Bilbao, José Gonçalves, David Arroyo and Lluis Mas, Caja Rural - Seguros RGA had no less than four riders in the group.

 

With 25 km left to go, the front group split up in the crosswind. Eight riders got a small gap, which they managed to keep and increase all the way towards the finish line. Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) won the stage, while Mas finished as the team’s best-placed rider in 12th place. Due to the strong team performance, Caja Rural - Seguros RGA now sit 1-2-3 in the general classification with Bilbao leading the race in front of Gonçalves and Arroyo. Mas is fifth overall and still leads the Turkish Beauties sprint competition, while Gonçalves will continue to wear the green points jersey. Caja Rural - Seguros RGA top the team classification.

 

“Early in the stage, Lotto attacked and went full gas in the crosswind. We had numerous riders in the front group so we collaborated with Lotto and Astana as we heard the leader and other GC riders were left behind. After yesterday's stage, we expected Lotto would try something like this to show their strength. When they went clear at the end, we tried to minimize the gap but when we realized there were no GC threats in the group, we relaxed a little.

 

”Now, we’re in a very good position overall, which also means it’s our responsibility to control the race. Hopefully, tomorrow’s stage will be a bit easier. I think everybody in the peloton wishes for that after today,” Pello Bilbao said.

 

"We thought that it would be a dangerous stage because of the weather and the wind, but we didn't expect that we would start like that. Lotto started the race really aggressively, and all the race was full gas to the end. They did an impressive job and I have to give them my congratulations because they did really impressive work.

 

"At first we didn't have the information because the radio wasn't working really well, so we wanted to go in a rhythm not to lose too much time in the front group, and when we knew there was no one dangerous there, we went more calmly. But there was some team-mates who had too much gas and they wanted to go really fast. I would have preferred to go more easily, but in the end we did 160km full gas.

 

"Looking at today's stage, we can never say that GC is done because until the last day anything can happen. We have to continue like that. We have a great responsibility now. We have to go day by day, control the race, and we hope that in the 6th stage, we can be there in the top, and at least one of us can be with the jersey.

 

"Today was a really hard day. We didn't expect such a hard day and we know that tomorrow we are going to have sore legs. We expected to do a more relaxed stage tomorrow. We'll see if the wind is weaker. Then the next two days, we hope to have a sprint day with no surprises.”

 

Lluis Mas: It was a crazy stage in Turkey

Beauties of Turkey leader Lluis Mas (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) said: “Every day the Tour of Turkey is a new battle this year! Nobody could have ever thought the race would be so eventful. It’s crazy to think that the breakaway went from the first kilometers till the end. Lotto-Soudal kept going faster and faster. They told people to help them, which was the way to bring the breakaway successfully to the finish. There are a lot of minutes between the different groups, it’s unbelievable.

 

”I didn’t imagine I’d increase my lead in the beauties of Turkey classification this way but it’s great. There are five more days to go. If it’s the same kind of racing every day, it’s difficult to think of the general classification even if we’re so well placed as a team now.”

 

Extremely bad luck for strong Southeast sprinter in Turkey

The bad luck broke Team Southeast – Venezuela and Enrique Sanz dreams in the extremely hard 3rd stage of Tour of Turkey. The Spanish rider was the only representative of the Southeast colors in the 24-rider breakaway that started at the beginning of the stage under the pace of Lotto – Soudal.

 

With less than 30km to go, there were only 9 left but Sanz was touched by a rival which ended his chances to win the stage.

 

CCC Polsat out of the GC battlein Turkey

Wind was the biggest factor on Stage 3 of Tour of Turkey and Lotto-Soudal riders took full advantage of it. It was a bad day for the Polkowice-squad, as its riders missed out on the decisive move early on, didn’t make the first group and came in with big time losses.

 

Strong wind and rain made the field split early on. A 24-rider group emerged in the lead and none of the CCC Sprandi Polkowice riders managed to make it into that pack. Davide Rebellin and Sylwester Szmyd were riding in the bunch (alongside race leader Przemysław Niemiec) behind a 30-man chasing group with Leszek Pluciński and Mateusz Taciak.

 

Mateusz Taciak was the team’s top finisher, coming in 15:09 behind the winner, in 48th place. Szmyd and Rebellin lost more than 25 minutes. The final general classification is out of reach now, but  theriders in orange will now try to get a stage win in the coming days.