Davide Rebellin put on the turquoise jersey in Marmaris after stage 4 of Tour of Turkey. The Italian arrived at the finish line safely in the peloton, with the same time as winner Andre Greipel.

"The team was very strong today and always in control. Mateusz Taciak and Tomasz Kiendyś paced the peloton in the initial part of racing, and later on other riders in orange took over. Also the sprinters teams joined us on the front – Lotto-Soudal and Etixx-Quick Step – and we just sat on their wheels. When Pauwels and McCarthy, GC contenders, pulled away on the climb, Nikolay Mihaylov and Stefan Schumacher set a high pace and prevented the escapees from creatng a large gap. Davide was riding calmly, he knew the finale, knew the downhill and knew that there was no point in breaking away at that point, since the sprinters’ teams would surely bring the race to a bunch sprint. We have a very strong team. Davide can count on it and today we were never in pani," sporting director of CCC Sprandi Polkowice Gabriele Missaglia said.

A category 3 climb located at 32km into the stage saw a lot of action. As a result of numerous attacks the group split and a 5-man breakaway managed to create a 3 minute gap. They didn’t stay in the front for long though and the leaders were brought back.

Six riders were involved in the next move - Boem, Guillou, Pozzo, Planet, Seeldraeyers and Berhane. CCC Sprandi Polkowice, with the race leader Davide Rebellin, was making sure that they ddidn’t gain too much of advantage. The riders in orange who worked alongside the sprint teams, kept the gap at around 2.20.

The escapees were reeled in on the last hill (uncategorized) 11km from the finish. In the same moment 6 riders launched new attacks. Two of them were big GC threats for Davide Rebellin - Jay McCarthy and Serge Pauwels were both in the top 10 overall. Rebellin's teammates took on the chase right away and the sprinters' teams joined when it was getting close to the line. The escape was caught in the final kilometer and the stage was decided in a bunch sprint. Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) had the strongest punch in the end and took his 10th stage win in Turkey. Daniele Colli (Nippo - Vini Fantini) and Daniele Ratto (UnitedHealthcare) finished in 2nd and 3rd respectively. Davide Rebellin finished in the bunch and maintained the overall lead.
 

"I was relatively calm, although there is always tension in the group in stage races, especially when a sprint is imminent. There was some wind, so we worked at the front in order to avoid surprises," Rebellin said.

"I didn’t want to follow his attack because I didn’t want to waste too much energy. I knew that it would be hard for him [McCarthy] to get there, riding into the wind on long, straight roads. I knew that Greipel would stay at the front with his team, and that a sprint was probably inevitable.

"What keeps me well is the life I live. I do things I didn’t do before: my diet, my rest and recuperation are all better than 10 years go, which is where my results come from. I’m doing all the controls that everyone else does."