Mirko Selvaggi finished the Tour of Turkey as sixth in the overall classification. The Italian laid the foundations for his fantastic overall result in the third stage with uphill finish at Elmali.

“I came to Turkey to get a good result in one of the stages,” he said after the finish of the last stage in Istanbul. “But when I finished 11th in that hard mountain stage, I wanted to try for a good overall.”

The first two stages finished in a bunch sprint. Roy Jans returned from a rib injury and finished 19th in Alanya, In the second stage to Antalya the team worked better around their sprinter which resulted in an 11th place for Jans.

The third stage to the 1850m high Elmali pass largely shaped the overall classification. Selvaggi managed to stay with the group of favourites for a long time on the climb. He eventually finished at 2,04 from stage winner Davide Rebellin.

Before the start of the Tour of Turkey a top ten in the overall was defined as a goal by sports director Steven De Neef and the eleventh place in the queen’s stage was a great point to build from.

In the fourth and fifth stage Selvaggi raced attentively at the front supported by a strong team consisting of James Vanlandschoot, Frederik Veuchelen, Tom Devriendt, Jan Ghyselinck, Roy Jans and Lander Seynaeve. He moved up to a ninth place in the overall before the decisive second mountain stage.

On day six with the traditional arrival on Selcuk, a short but steep climb, Selvaggi showed again he could climb with the best in the Tour of Turkey. He praised his teammates who delivered him at the foot of the climb.

“The team did fantastic work for me today," Selvaggi beamed after the finish. "In the final I could count on strong riders to support me. In the last kilometres I was completely 'à bloc'. I did want to try something in the final but it was better to stay in the wheels."

Selvaggi moved up another two places in the overall after day six. Because of a crash in the final 30 kilometres of the last stage, Davide Rebellin, the then number two in the overall, had to abandon and Mirko Selvaggi finished the 51st edition of the Tour of Turkey in 6th place.

In the final stage, in front of the iconic Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Roy Jans sprinted to a ninth place.