"All day the team helped me on the stage - thanks to them I got to the mountain at the front."

Those were the words of Astana's Miguel Angel Lopez after stage six at the Tour of Turkey. Lopez attacked the leaders 3km from the finish on the most difficult part of the final climb, and broke away solo in front of thousands of fans on the mountain and millions of global television viewers.

The Colombian rider rode solo to the finish in his first dramatic escape as a professional, and finished second by 3 seconds behind the late sprint of Pello Bilbao of Spain.

"It was very hard, a fast finish. Having a good position at the foot of the climb was essential. I managed to be up front, and I was feeling good so, with 3 km to go, I attacked. I was just lacking a bit of strength in the end.

"It’s my first good result as a professional with Astana. I’m very happy, because it’s my first race, and I’m coming back from injury and a two week break, so I’m just coming back into form. "

A final chance for climbers on Saturday will come on a hilly stage before the 2015 Tour of Turkey finishes on Sunday on the streets of Istanbul.