The 7th stage of the Tour of Turkey is finally one for the sprinters. It is the shortest stage by far at a mere 113km and with the sun finally poking its head out from behind the clouds, this could be a nice relaxing day out for many of the riders. Corioni is considered the favourite today on the back of his win yesterday but most of the sprinters will simply be hoping that today is a more regular sprint than yesterday.
It takes 15km for the first attack of the day to go off, with most riders simply being too tired by this point. The two men to go are Ligthart and Gudsell. Both men are over an hour down so are allowed to get away.
Several men follow after them. Their names are: Belkov Ruijgh Aru Perry
None of these riders are real threats to the overall so are allowed to join up with the two men up front. A clever move by Venchi, putting Aru in the break, as it stops them from having to chase. Belkov has also done well to get himself in yet another break. He is currently third in the mountain classification, on equal points with Passeron. Taking any of the top 5 positions on the classified climb today would guarantee him second place in that competition behind teammate Ignatenko.
The lead group hit the sprint point all together, and Gudsell takes the honours. Perry comes through second and Ligthart third. They have a 1’47” gap as the climb starts.
Up the climb Ruijgh and Belkov do most of the pace setting for the break, and California Giant do the same thing for the pack. Near the summit, Belkov leaps out from the group and no one follows him. He rolls over in first place, taking second in the mountain jersey classification. Aru comes across second, ahead of Ligthart.
The pack comes through 5’35” ahead, which proves to be the maximum gap that the break gets for the day. Rapha and WWE aren’t willing to let them stay away today and want to bring this in for their sprinters.
The second sprint point for the day comes with 35.5km to go, and none of the break are interested in it. They are working well together as Belkov rolls over in first, ahead of Gudsell and Ligthart.
With 12km to go, the break remains away, though only with a 30 second lead. Gudsell senses and opportunity for the numerous time trialists up front and he sets off a real flurry of attacks.
In the end Gudsell’s attack doesn’t stick, but Belkov and Ruijgh succeed in widening the gap to 48”. They are joined by Ligthart and they set an incredibly high pace up front.
With 3km to go the trio still have a 22” lead but behind them two strong trains are competing to bring them back in. In the left train the order is: Jeandesboz Keukeleire Vingerling Galimzyanov Hopman Bernucci Sagan Murakami
The right train is: Berhane Partridge Abdallah Borrajo Keisse Van Hummel
Jeandesboz does a lot of work on the left and just as he peels off Keukeleire manages to completely reel in the escape group.
The breakaway riders are almost up against the right hand barrier, forcing Berhane to push immensely hard to get around them. He peels off and his teammate Partridge surges past them, bringing his sprint train almost level. Seeing this, Vingerling opens his sprint, with still more than 1km to go.
Galmizyanov sees what is happening and comes around Keukeleire as he falls back. Hopman is a little bit boxed in, but tries to come up to Vingerling’s wheel. Bernucci is following Hopman’s wheel, trying to come up to the front.
Meanwhile, on the right, Van Hummel has surged past the Rapha men in front of him and is making a real challenge!
Abdallah can’t quite hold the pace, so Borrajo goes around him and starts to fight for the gap between Van Hummel and Galimzyanov. Vingerling starts to run out of power and Hopman comes around him on the left side of the road, with Bernucci jumping off his wheel as well. Sagan sees a gap and forces himself between Vingerling and Hopman, coming up fast.
Borrajo looks like he has conserved his energy well, and he burns past Van Hummel. Sagan is coming up fast too.
Can Borrajo hold on?
Yes he can! A really hard-fought sprint victory!
Kenny Van Hummel holds on for second place, rewarding his aggressive surge. Sagan comes through in third, which is a great result for him and brings him ever-closer in the sprint classification. Galimzyanov is 4th, Bernucci 5th and Abdallah 6th. Murakami is a surprise 7th, Hopman is 8th ahead of Keisse in 9th and Vingerling can only manage 10th place.
In the run in to the finish a small group of riders fell off the back of the peleton. Amongst them were Grmay and Pasamontes, who both ultimately lost some time today.
