Tuft misses win by metres in Turkey

Svein Tuft of SpiderTech p/b C10 came tantalizingly close to victory in the Presidential Tour of Turkey Wednesday, getting caught in the final kilometre of the race’s toughest stage.

Tuft bridged to the breakaway with about 40 km of the 202-km Stage 4, which included two major climbs that broke up the peloton. With just 20 km to go, he and Julien Fouchard of Cofidis held a lead of 1:20, but Alessandro Petacchi’s Lampre team was organizing behind.

The duo hung on until the uphill final kilometre and the day went to Petacchi, who took the win with a remarkable turn of speed in the closing metres.

“The headwind and wide-open road coming to the finish were not ideal for us, but I took my best shot to win a stage,” said Tuft after the stage. “McCarty and Anderson were also great teammates riding in the front group today.  It was one hard day”

Click here for the Team SpiderTech report.