Eight versatile stages await the riders at the 51st edition of Tour of Turkey. Tinkoff-Saxo lines up with ambitions in sprinter’s territory and with a hope of delivering a good result in the overall GC, where this year’s race will be marked by especially two 1st category uphill finishes.
 
Leading up to the race, Tinkoff-Saxo sports director Nicki Sørensen voices that the team has expectations for the versatile race.
 
“We will arrive with a prospect of being competitive although we don’t, on paper, have the biggest favorites on the roster, neither in the GC nor in the sprinter’s stages. But still, we have a team with a pretty good width. I believe we can get in the mix on the flat stages and in the GC with Jay McCarthy and Pavel Brutt”, says Nicki Sørensen.
 
Tinkoff-Saxo lines up Jay McCarthy, Pavel Brutt, Daniele Bennati, Michael Kolar, Nikolay Trusov, Edward Beltran, Evgeny Petrov and Juraj Sagan.

Starting Sunday, Tour of Turkey takes the riders 1257 kilometers from Alanya to Istanbul. Along the way the riders face 4 flat stages suited for the fast men of the bunch, while especially stage 3 and 6 will bring forth riders looking to create a result in the general classification. According to Nicki Sørensen, Tinkoff-Saxo stands a chance of making results in both types of terrain.
 
“It’s an exciting route, it has a bit of everything except time trials and you don’t necessarily have to be a pure climber to do well in the GC. It’s a good mix and I believe that, depending on the race shape of McCarthy and Brutt, they can do well. We will take it day by day and we also have a team of pretty fast guys in the likes of Michael Kolar, Nikolay Trusov and Daniele Bennati. I expect them to be there in the fast finales on the flat stages”, notes Nicki Sørensen.
 
“I know that Kolar is very motivated, he’s in good shape and Tour of Turkey stands as one of his big goals of this spring. The team is ready to support him and he has expert backup in a guy like Bennati, who is returning from a longer period without racing. Of course, we face strong competition and a team like Etixx-Quickstep is sending two very fast guys in Cavendish and Boonen. We are up for the challenge and I sense that the guys are motivated and looking forward to the race start come Sunday”, finishes Nicki Sørensen.