sutty68/OZrocker: Ya, seems we have not much luck in Denmark generally, Christina is in a little better mood now, after a good nights sleep, in the airport ready to board for Tyrkey - new adventures await the team. [img-r]https://pcmdaily.com/images/smiley/wink.gif[/img-r]
21/4 - 28/4 Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey (cat. 2.HC)
21/4 Stage 1: Alanya - Alanya: 135,4 km
Christina: I am in Alanya, Antalya Province, Turkey. The City is first mentioned by the Greek’s 625 BC, but the area has been populated as far back as 20,000 BC, archeological evidence shows a port from approx. 3000 BC. The city had its golden age under Turk rule, in the early Middle Ages, with construction of Alanya Castle, City Walls ect. Since the 1950’s Alanya have become an important beach resort.
The route is 8 laps on a closed circuit of a little under 17 km. with a sprint on the 3 lap, starting at the Alanya Belediyesi, along the coast down to the Orange Grove, then indland up to Tekzen Yapi Market, on to Alaaddin Keykubat Parkı, and along the coast back to the start.
Alaaddin Keykubat Parkı:
Another important season goal, hopefully a stage win or another good result.
Pre-race strategy: We expect a mass sprint; with Philip Nielsen as our top sprinter we don’t expect wonders, but hopefully a top 10 or better.
Roster:
Angelo Furlan
Frederik Wilmann
Kenny Elissonde
Morten Høberg
Philip Nielsen
Sebastian Balck
Stefan Schumacher
Sebastian Balck finds the opportunity to attack and he gets away, but others trying to follow, is reeled in quickly. Sebastian ends up in a solo break.
He builds up a lead in 5 minutes and takes the intermediate sprint.
With about 80 km, the peloton sets a much higher pace, and Sebastian can’t hold them back, he is caught before the 20 km mark.
We try’s to build a train, Schumacher – Furlan – Høberg – Nielsen, but at the worst possible moment, Cardoso (Sojasun) and Dempster (NetApp-Endura) gets in between our line. Høberg and Nielsen is cut off.
The stages was won by Gerald Ciolek (MTN – Qhubeka) over Laurent Mangel (FDJ.fr), Angelo Furlan did a fine sprint, taking a 9th position. Philip Nielsen gets a disappointing 17th. The bonus sec. places Sebastian Balck high in the GC, but that is not likely to last long.
Christina: Not what we expected but never the less a god sprint from Furlan.
21/4 - 28/4 Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey (cat. 2.HC)
22/4 Stage 2: Alanya - Antalya: 149,9 km
Christina: Again we start in Alanya, going to Antalya the largest Turkish city on the Mediterranean coast, the city was first settled around 200 BC By the Hellenistic rulers of Pergamon. After 133 BC the city was taken over by Romans.
Antalya :
The stage start by the Alanya harbor, then follow the coast west to Kızılağaç, then a bit inland for a sprint in Manavgat, further west to Serik, heading for the finish in Antalya near Atatürk Parkı.
Atatürk Parkı:
Pre-race strategy: We expect another mass sprint; basicly the same strategy as yesterday.
Profile:
A morning break of 3 rider takes off, and get a nice gap to the peloton fast, the strongest rider in the break is Arnaud Gérard (Bretagne) a strong fighter type with a good flat and a fair sprint.
The pace in the peloton seems to be very slow, we move Morten Høberg to the front, to increase it a bit.
Today we get a good train up, getting close to the sprint.
Arnaud Gérard was too strong for the peloton today, he holds out and crosses the line first.
Gerald Ciolek wins the mass sprint, Philip Nielsen get home 7th,
Christina: Nice improvement on yesterday’s stage. Its ok, I did not expect much more than that.
21/4 - 28/4 Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey (cat. 2.HC)
23/4 Stage 3: Alanya - Elmalı 151,8 km
Christina: Today is very different form the earlier stages, now it time for the climbers, the race can be won or lost today, the king stage of the race.
The route start by Antalya Devlet Konservatuvari, from here north to a cat.3 climb , by Kepez Belediyesi Sosyal Tesisler Ve Mesire Alanı (park), then west first for a cat. 3 and then a cat 1 climb between Korkuteli and Kızılcadağ Bucağı,then south to Elmalı, and northwest for the final category 1 climb, in the mountains between Eskihisar and Kayabaşı.
View from the route towards the final climb.
Pre-race strategy: This is a stage for Kenny Elissonde, we hope this is a stage where he can get high in the GC; everyone will help him.
Profile:
Alexander Boyd (Jamis) attacks first, later followed by Pavel Kochetkov (RusVelo) and Emilien Viennet (FDJ.fr), a break-away that should be no threat on a stage like this.
Boyd attacks:
On the 2nd cat 3 climb, Stefan Schumacher attacks, trying to force the pace up, and put pressure on the other teams. At this point the break-away has got 4’45, the weakest riders start falling off the back of the peloton. Now it has started to rain a little.
The Break-away is reeled back in, but on the cat. 1 a new attacks succeed to get a good gab, this time its CG contenders Carlos José Ochoa (Androni Giocattoli) and Robinson Chalapud (Colombia), this is a much more serious break.
The peloton set a very high pace, on the flat between the climbs and the break doesn’t hold, 72 riders are together in the peloton when it hits the foot of the final climb. Then the attacks between the favorites are started by Jackson Rodríguez (Androni Giocattoli), only 7 riders are able to follow, including Elissonde.
The situation with 8,5 top the top:
With a little more than 1 km to the top a new attack, this time Julian Arredondo (Team Nippo), Elissonde counters and get on his wheel, Brice Feillu (Sojasun) slowly fights his way up to the group.
Arredondo attacks:
When the sprint starts, Brice Feillu seems empty, and Elissonde outsprints Arredondo. Elissonde takes the stage and the GC.
Christina: Perfect! A brilliant stage win, and a good chance we can get a podium in the race overall. By the way, everyone got home safe from the time limit.
21/4 - 28/4 Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey (cat. 2.HC)
24/4 Stage 4: Fethiye – Marmaris 130,4 km
Christina: The caravan has moved about 80 km southwest on small roads, form the mountains near Elmalı to Fethiye by the Mediterranean.
Fethiye:
Fethiye was previously known as Telmessos a Hellenistic city which dates back to at least the 5th century BC. Over the year the city had different names; in 1934 it was renamed to Fethiye. Today Fethiye is an important tourist center.
The Cat. 2 mountain pass, after Göcek
From Fethiye the route goes west along the cost to Göcek, then over a cat 2. climb, before an intermediate sprint in Ortaca, north around Lake Köyceğiz up to Gökova, before turning south through the hills before the finish in Marmaris by the coast.
Pre-race strategy: We will try to control the race leading the peloton.
Profile:
The morning break was Pirmin Lang (IAM Cycling), Markus Eichler (NetApp) and Alessandro Malaguti (Androni Giocattoli), all more than 11 minutes behind in the GC.
On the Cat.2, Davy Commeye (Accent Jobs) attacks, being 8.50 back in the GC, not a threat to the GC, but a strong fighter with very good hill/sprint ability, definitely a threat to the stage.
We send 4 riders to the front, pulling the peloton; we don’t want to take any chances.
With 25 km left, Stefan Schumacher attacks with Blel Kadri (Bretagne) and Benoît Vaugrenard (FDJ.fr), group Commeye has about 2’30 min on the peloton at this point..
Davy Commeye’s attack turns out to be successful he take a solo win with 1'13 to the next group.
The next group of 7 riders gets the same time, Ciolek 2nd, Kenny Elissonde 3rd, Stefan Schumacher and Julian Arredondo is in this group too.
Gerald Ciolek with Elissonde behind him:
Christina: Another great day for us, Kenny Elissonde best of the favorites, takes important bonus seconds on Julian Arredondo, could be vital in a tight GC.
Stage:
1
Davy Commeye
Accent Jobs - Wanty
3h04'30
2
Gerald Ciolek
MTN - Qhubeka
+ 1'13
3
Kenny Elissonde
Christina Watches - Onfone
s.t.
4
Julian Arredondo
Team Nippo - De Rosa
s.t.
5
Blel Kadri
Bretagne - Séché Environnement
s.t.
6
Stefan Schumacher
Christina Watches - Onfone
s.t.
7
Benoît Vaugrenard
FDJ.fr
s.t.
8
Esteban Chaves
Colombia
s.t.
9
Florian Guillou
Bretagne - Séché Environnement
+ 2'31
10
Jérémie Galland
Sojasun
s.t.
GC:
1
Kenny Elissonde
Christina Watches - Onfone
13h20'57
2
Julian Arredondo
Team Nippo - De Rosa
+ 16
3
Esteban Chaves
Colombia
+ 1'12
4
Brice Feillu
Sojasun
+ 1'38
5
Stefan Denifl
IAM Cycling
+ 2'08
6
Thomas Löfkvist
IAM Cycling
s.t.
7
Jackson Rodríguez
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
+ 2'30
8
Marcos García
Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
s.t.
9
Álex Cano Ardila
Colombia
s.t.
10
Gennadiy Tatarinov
RusVelo
s.t.
Points:
1
Gerald Ciolek
MTN - Qhubeka
20
65
2
Kenny Elissonde
Christina Watches - Onfone
16
41
3
Julian Arredondo
Team Nippo - De Rosa
14
34
Mountain:
1
Kenny Elissonde
Christina Watches - Onfone
16
2
Robinson Chalapud
Colombia
16
3
Julian Arredondo
Team Nippo - De Rosa
12
Team: Colombia
Young: Kenny Elissonde (Christina Watches - Onfone)
Edited by Tamijo on 02-11-2015 17:43
21/4 - 28/4 Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey (cat. 2.HC)
25/4 Stage 5: Marmaris - Turgutreis
Marmaris Bay
Christina: Here in Marmaris, surrounded by mountains in a bay with scenic islands. The origin of the city is unknown, but it is known there was a fortified castle here in 300 BC. Later the Ottoman Navy was based here, rebuilding the castle in 1522.
Marmaris castle
The Route goes north to Gökova, over the cat1 climb to Kızılağaç, further north to the intermediate Sprint in Muğla, west to Eskihisar, and downhill further west to Milas, and southeast for the finish in Turgutreis at the Bodrum peninsula.
Turgutreis:
Pre-race strategy: We will focus on the GC, and won’t mind if a break-away wins the stage.
A morning break of 5 gets away; they are no threat to the GC.
We set riders in front, setting a limited pace, just to keep the break within 5-6 minutes.
After the descend mid stage, the sprinter teams move to the front, FDJ.fr, NetApp and MTN starts to accelerate to catch the break-away.
It comes to a mass sprint; all our sprinters are marked by the hard hilly stage they can’t keep up, Elissonde takes the wheel of Schumacher.
The stage is won by Leonardo Duque (Colombia) over Mathieu Drujon (FDJ.fr)
Christina: A fine stage for us nothing lost, nothing gained, just a quiet day in the sun.
21/4 - 28/4 Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey (cat. 2.HC)
26/4 Stage 6: Bodrum – Selcuk (Virgin Marry)180,3 km
Bodrum:
Christina, Here in Bodrum, the city was known as Halicarnassus in ancient Greek times, its precise origin is unknown. The city is best known for its tomb of Mausolus, the origin of the word mausoleum, built around 350 BC. One of his seven wonders of the Ancient World.
The ruins of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (now Bodrum):
From Bodrum the route moves north-east up to Milas, northwest to Lake Bafa, north for a sprint before Söke, from there north to Ortaklar, and west over the Cat.2 to Çamlık, north to Selçuk, and then uphill to a finish near the house of Virgin Marry in the Meryemana Doğa Ve Kültür Parkı.
Pilgrims visit the house of Virgin Marry, based on the belief that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was taken to this stone house by Saint John and lived there for the rest of her life:
Pre-race strategy: Last stage with a hard uphill finish, we will focus on not losing time in the GC.
The weather is ugly with constant rain; the morning break was a solo break by Jonathan Patrick McCarty (Jamis).
We set riders in front, controlling the race in a nice and easy pace. McCarty he gets close to 8 minutes.
At the foot of the cat.2, a new attack, Jérémie Galland (Sojasun), Tim Declercq (Topsport Vlaanderen), Ilnur Zakarin (RusVelo) and David Blanco (Caja Rural) they get a good gap on the way up the climb.
At the bottom of the final climb, the favorites start attacking, a group of 5 gets a gap to the peloton, It is Jackson Rodríguez, Stefan Denifl, Marcos García, Julian Arredondo and Kenny Elissonde, there is still 5 riders in front of them.
Rodríguez drops back, he just can’t keep up today, the others passes the Galland group one by one, except David Blanco, he is already overtaking the lead, passing McCarty.
David Blanco wins the stage, with 22 sec. to the favorites; Arredondo outsprints Elissonde and takes 2nd gaining some bonus sec. but not enough for the GC.
Christina: Not good that we lost time to Arredondo, but we are in front, we just have to be careful in the coming days.
