Tour of Turkey 2015, Stage 4: Greipel wins in Marmaris
Following a tough day in the mountains, the sprinters in this year’s Tour of Turkey were allowed to recover from their battle with gravity and to sharpen themselves up for a super-fast sprint finish into the old port town of Marmaris on Wednesday.
by Steve Thomas
Following a tough day in the mountains, the sprinters in this year’s Tour of Turkey were allowed to recover from their battle with gravity and to sharpen themselves up for a super-fast sprint finish into the old port town of Marmaris on Wednesday.
Short, sunny and bittersweet was how the road rolled out before the riders. Stretching some 132 km along the hilly fringes of the Taurus Mountains, it led the riders to the final climb of the day, a grinder of a highway slog over the hill before a full-on drop down to the finish line, providing a springboard for many and a slap in the face for the sprinters. Thus far in the race, the Etixx-QuickStep team of Mark Cavendish has been dominant and flawless in their lead-outs. When you throw Tom Boonen in as an extra engine, they take some matching in that final delivery, although they were ultimately to fall sort on Stage 4.
During the stage, a number of breakaway groups were allowed their freedom, but with the final climb coming inside the last 15 km, all was reeled in and the bunch was halved in size before the descent into Marmaris. This split effectively ruled out Cav and Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge), and thus the stage victory went to the ever-smiling German sprinter André Greipel of Lotto Soudal, who also won the same stage of the race in 2013.
Despite the hills and the strain on the peloton at times, there was no shift in the GC standings, with Davide Rebellin still sitting pretty in the turquoise leader’s jersey.
Canada’s Christian Meier rolled in safely with the main peloton. “Today we had always planned on going for Magnus [Cort Nielsen, who finished fourth], with the last climb we were quite confident it was going to be a reduced bunch, which suits Magnus well. Cam and I were still there and were able to support him in the sprint. I think we did a good lead-out, dropping him off around 300 m to go.”
Thursday, the race turns inland along a tough and windswept plateau, a stage that ideally suits a stronger sprinter, such as Greipel, but also has the potential to allow a break to stay clear.
2015 Tour of Turkey, Stage 4 Top Three
1. Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal)
2. Daniele Colli (Nippo-Vini Fantini)
3. Daniele Ratto (UnitedHealthcare)
