19.04.2008

# 12

 PETACCHI LIKE ALEXANDER THE GREAT

        The sixth stage of the Presidential Tour of Turkey suited Alessandro Petacchi. The great Italian sprinter didn’t disappoint his fans in the gulf of Antalya where Alexander the Great, the most famous emperor of the Antique world, used to install his winter headquarters, precisely in Phaselis. That was at half way into the route leading the riders to the town of Antalya where “Alessandro Il Grande”, meaning Petacchi, surged from the bunch for collecting a second stage win in the Turkish event.

        Before that, he got his team-mates from Milram to work hard behind a 9 men breakaway that got away after 12 kilometers with: Rubens Bertogliati (Saunier Duval), Aitor Perez (Extremadura), Dominique Cornu (Silence-Lotto), Andrey Zeits (Astana), Danilo Hondo (Serramenti PVC-Diquigiovanni), Martin Mares (PSK Whirlpool), Sander Oostlander (Dutch national team), Mindaugas Striska (Mitsubishi-Jartazi), Der Zolt (Centri della Calzatura-Partizan).

        Milram put an end to their adventure with 28 kilometers to go. But the train didn’t work at the end when Astana and later CSF-Navigare took the first positions of the bunch. Matteo Priamo (CSF) tried to surprise the sprinters but Alberto Ongarato was prompt to take Alessandro Petacchi back onto him. Petacchi easily won the sprint with two length of a bike.

        The Italian is likely to do it again in the last stage. “Tomorrow is another day”, Petacchi rectified. “I’m happy with two stage wins already. I got the first one after consultation of the photo-finish and I wanted to win in a better way. I’ve succeeded to do that.”

        Shall he make it three in the Presidential town of Alanya on Sunday, it would mean that all the stages were won by Italian riders, the Tour of Turkey being a real lead up to the Giro d’Italia starting in three weeks. But the overall winner is very likely to remain David Garcia Dapena from Spain.

18.04.2008

# 11

 ONE MORE TASTE OF THE WIN FOR MATTEO PRIAMO       

        In the town of the Turkish oranges Finike, it went down to a third stage win in a row by CSF-Navigare and a second one personally by Matteo Priamo while Karpin-Galicia’s David Garcia Dapena kept his lead with two days to go.

        It started from the charming harbor of Kalkan with many attacks. “But there were so many different people doing it that they neutralized each other and they made the tactic easier for us”, the race leader explained.

        Seven men found the way to go clear after 40 kilometers and a king of the mountains price won by Javier Benitez from Saunier Duval who consolidated his lead: Dries Devenyns (Silence-Lotto), Assan Bazayev (Astana), Gabriele Missaglia (Serramenti PVC-Diquigiovanni) and Matteo Priamo (CSF-Navigare), reinforced ten kilometers further by Gregory Rast (Astana), Josu Mondelo (Extremadura) and Francesco Reda (NGC Medical).
They never got more than 2 minutes lead. Milram and Lampre decided to chase with the idea of getting a bunch sprint win for Alessandro Petacchi and Mirco Lorenzetto respectively. The gap went down to 1.22 just 23 kilometers before coming to Finike. It was 1.16 with 13.5km to go but still the same 3km from the finishing line.

        The big teams never closed the gap. Gregory Rast pulled the sprint for Assan Bazayev but the young Kazakh didn’t have enough power left. “It was logical that one of the Astana riders would sacrifice himself for the other one. But they opened the sprint too early. I knew there was a head wind and it was necessary to be patient before sprinting. I waited for the last 150 meters”, eventual stage winner Priamo described.

        “I’m more than happy with what I’ve done here in Turkey so far”, the Venetian underlined. “I might try to break away again but I must first see how the legs go. At CSF we also want to get a stage win for our sprinter Maximiliano Richeze.”
With two days to go, the Italian job might not be over yet on the Turkish coast.

17.04.2008

# 10

 FILIPPO SAVINI IS THE FOURTH ITALIAN WINNER IN FOUR DAYS       

        After Alessandro Petacchi, Mirco Lorenzetto and Matteo Priamo, CSF-Navigare’s Filippo Savini has become the fourth Italian to win a stage of the 44th Presidential Tour of Turkey. He finished alone in Ölüdeniz but didn’t get the opportunity to admire the Turquoise sea water nearby the finishing line where he preceded his compatriot Luca Zanasca (Centri della Calzatura-Partizan) by 45 seconds.

        Savini and Zanasca were part of the 8 men breakaway that took shape after 15 kilometers with David Cañada (Saunier Duval), Benoît Joachim (Astana), Rouslan Ivanov (Serramenti PVC-Diquigiovanni), Aïtor Perez (Extremadura), Vytautas Kaupas (Mitsubishi-Jartazi) and Christoph Meschenmoser (Team Ista).

        Savini countered Ivanov in the final climb with 12 kilometers to go. He increased his advantage in the downhill while the Karpin-Galicia team of race leader David Garcia Dapena reduced the gap from 7 minutes to 2.13. “As long as we stayed within five minutes behind the breakaway, there was no danger for the overall classification”, the Spaniard said. “Today was the most complicated stage to control. The next ones being shorter and looking easier on the profile in the race manual, I hope the hardest part of our defense is behind us.”

        The 22 years old Savini stayed shy after his fantastic win but he commented: “I have dreamt about a day like today. I had imagined winning a race this way but there was a need for a bit of luck and the intuition was good as well. For a while, I’ve hoped to stay alone in the front. But the course was very hard, I knew from the race manual how long the last climb was but I didn’t know how steep it was.”

        This is Savini’s second win as a professional after the queen stage of Le Tour de Langkawi in Fraser’s Hill in Malaysia in February. Now he hopes to get a start at the Tour of Italy with his CSF-Navigare team next month.

16.04.2008

# 9

 PRIAMO WINS IN PARADISE, GARCIA DAPENA TAKES THE LEAD

        Italy’s Matteo Priamo from CSF-Navigare won stage 3 at the Tour of Turkey ahead of Colombian Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez and Spain’s David Garcia Dapena who became the new race leader in the holiday station of Marmaris.

        Priamo had to fight hard for coming in such a position on the finishing line. “I went into three breakaways before I found the right one”, he explained about the very competitive early part of the race.

        14 riders broke clear after 22 kilometers: Francis De Greef and Pieter Jacobs (Silence-Lotto), Javier Benitez Roman Juan José Cobo Acebo (Saunier Duval), Gregory Rast (Astana), Gustavo Cesar-Veloso and David Garcia Dapena (Karpin-Galicia), Matteo Priamo (CSF-Navigare), Danail Petrov (Benfica), Gregory Habeaux (Mitsubishi-Jartazi), Ruslan Ivanov (Serramenti-PVC Diquigiovanni), Dimitri Nikandrov, Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez and Luca Zanasca (Centri della Calzatura).

        Five of them had already made the break the day before on the road to Bodrum: Cesar Veloso, Garcia Dapena, Jacobs, Benitez and Petrov. “When I saw Rubiano attacking in the final climb with eight kilometers to, I knew it was the right wheel to follow”, Priamo explained. “There was no way that I would let him go. With the two riders from Karpin-Galicia coming through, it was a perfect situation for me because they both rode hard for their lead on GC and I could focus on the sprint for stage win. It went very well.”

        Stage 3 was on paper the hardest of the Tour of Turkey. It means that David Garcia Dapena has done most of the job with taking two winning breakaways two days in a row. The Galician is now the hot favorite for the overall classification. “When I came to Turkey three days ago, I said I was here for winning the race”, he recalled. “This morning I had the idea to take the yellow jersey. So far, I’ve done what I said but it will be difficult to control the race till the end with such a small team of six riders only. We’ll do our best.”

        Garcia was delighted in the holiday station of Marmaris. “It’s a special emotion to wear the yellow jersey”, he noticed. “Shall I win the whole race, I’d be proud to say that I have a national Tour on my record book but there is still a lot of work to do.”

15.04.2008

# 8

 LORENZETTO TAKES OVER FROM PETACCHI

        Mirco Lorenzetto decided to switch from Milram to Lampre because he wanted to win races by himself and no longer as a lead out man for Alessandro Petacchi. He proved his move to be right as he succeeded to his former boss at the head of the classification of the 44th Presidential Tour of Turkey.

        Lorenzetto was a member of the 21 men breakaway gone clear after 20 kilometers of racing with Dries Devenyns and Pieter Jacobs (Silence-Lotto), José Alberto Benitez and David Cañada (Saunier Duval), David Loosli and Mauro Santambrogio (Lampre), Assan Bazayev (Astana), Josu Mondelo and Enrique Salgueiro (Extremadura), Tiziano Dall’Antonia (CSF), Piergiorgio Camussa and Alessio Signego (NGC Medical), Francesco Ginanni, Danilo Hondo and Gabriele Missaglia (Serramenti PVC-Diquigiovanni), José Azevedo and Danail Petrov (Benfica), Gustavo Cesar Veloso and David Garcia Dapena (Karpin-Galicia). Initially, Wim van Huffel (Silence-Lotto) was also with them but he had a flat tyre.

        Milram took care of the chase with 60 kilometers to go but they gave up quickly as the gap didn’t decrease much and stayed around 6.30. There were many attacks in the front group in the finale. Even the best sprinters like Hondo and Lorenzetto tried their luck alone. Hondo and Lorenzetto actually marked each other closely. But in the final kilometer on the cobbled streets of Bodrum, Lorenzetto escaped from Hondo and overtook the last attacker Dall’Antonia.

        “I’m happy to grab my second win of the year here”, said the Italian who got his first one at the Tour of Valencia in Spain in February. “I’ve led the sprint all the way, I took a lot of risks for winning. I have the yellow jersey now but I don’t think I’ll be able to win the Tour of Turkey with the climbs to come.”

        The eventual winner is very likely to be one of the courageous 20 men who broke clear on the way to Bodrum. The biggest climbs of the Tour of Turkey are included in stage 3 going to Marmaris in another paradise of the Mediterranean coast.

14.04.2008

# 7

 ALESSANDRO PETACCHI SCORES AGAIN

        Alessandro Petacchi has signed his come-back as a winner after getting sick three weeks ago but it was tight with Ruben Bongiorno at the end of stage 1 in the Tour of Turkey. Only one centimeter separated the two riders on the finishing line of Kusadasi near the ancient city of Ephesus which contains the largest collection of Roman ruins East of the Mediterranean including the temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

        The peloton caught the three breakaway riders Sean Lacey (Irish national team), Josef Soukup (Sparta Praha) and Christoph Meschenmoser (Team Ista) with 15km to go. Team Milram did most of the work and Petacchi started sprinting by himself 250 meters before the line. “I started early to avoid any risk of crashing”, he said. “I gave the acceleration at the end and I thought I had won but I wasn’t sure.” Bongiorno put his arms up in the air but the winner was really Petacchi.

        This is his 7th win this year but it wasn’t the most flamboyant one. “I’m far from the condition I had at the time of Milan-San Remo”, he explained. “I only trained for five days since. I got sick with bronchitis. I had to take antibiotics. I didn’t re-start from scratch but I can’t shine the same way yet. I enjoy racing in the heat again and I hope to improve my condition here in Turkey.”

        Petacchi will wear the yellow jersey at the start of stage 2 in Kusadasi heading to Bodrum.

13.04.2008

# 6

 GREGORY RAST WINS THE GP OF ISTANBUL

        The Grand Prix of Istanbul has launched a week of cycling in Turkey in a magnificent way. The circuit, held in the historical center of Istanbul nearby the blue mosque and St-Sophia church, was to be covered thirty times. Astana’s Gregory Rast from Switzerland outsprinted his breakaway companions, the first of them being Italy’s Francesco Ginanni.

        There was a big crowd, the temperature was ideal and the spectacle was guaranted by an uphill and a downhill. “When I got here yesterday, I didn’t know what to expect but when I saw the course this morning I understood this course was for me”, Rast explained. “The cobblestones made it look like the Tour of Flanders where I finished 13th last Sunday. The win helps me to forget that I was not able to take part in Paris-Roubaix today.”

        The race was intense since the start. The riders of the Serramenti PVC-Diquigiovanni put the pressure on. The winner of Le Tour de Langkawi Ruslan Ivanov was the first man in action. His team-mate Francesco Ginnani, but also Gustavo Cesar Veloso (Karpin Galicia) and Matteo Priamo (CSF-Navigare) rejoined him before Rast and David Garcia Dapena (Karpin Galicia) did it as well.

        A massive crash split the bunch in two during the fourth lap. The riders relegated at two minutes were forced to pull out but they will all be able to take the start of stage 1 in Izmir on Monday since the Grand Prix of Istanbul didn’t count for the overall classification. Two more riders managed to get back onto the leading group: Gabriele Missaglia (Serramenti PVC-Diquigiovanni) and Miguel Rubiano-Chavez (Centri della Calzatura).

        “As soon as I reached the front of the race, I only had to stay focused and observe some of my adversaries that I didn’t know really. I got confidence on the way. I didn’t know if I was the fastest but I felt strong. When Cesar Veloso attacked with five laps to go, I was prompt to react. In the sprint, I had no trouble. It’s great to win. I don’t do this job only for training but also for competing and hopefully for win. Today I’ve won a nice race.”

        Rast, 28, hails from Zug, Switzerland, the same place where Tony Rominger came from. He was the national champion in 2004 and 2006. He won the 2007 Tour of Luxemburg.

09.04.2008

# 5

DANILO HONDO GOES BACK ON THE PATH OF HIS EXPLOITS FROM 12 YERARS AGO!

        The Serramenti PVC-Diquigiovanni team counts on Le Tour de Langkawi winner Ruslan Ivanov for the overall classification of the Presidential Tour of Turkey next week (April 13 to 20) but their most famous rider on the start line will be German sprinter Danilo Hondo who makes his big return to racing this year, aged 33, after almost two years off following his controversial positive test at the 2005 Tour of Murcia in Spain.

        In February, his stage win at Le Tour de Langkawi in Batu Pahat, Malaysia, in front of very competitive sprinters, set his come back but he was victim of a bad crash created 50 meters away from the finishing line by CSF’s Mauro Richeze three days later in Kuantan. "This accident didn’t force me to have any break in my season", Hondo explained. "But my organism was seriously affected by wounds and bruises. It had to work very hard for my immune system to be completely reactivated. Fortunately, it’s all ok now."

        After returning home from Malaysia, Hondo took part in the GP Lugano, GP Eroica, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Castilla and Leon. He didn’t collect any success, which generated some doubts about his ability of returning to the level he had some years ago. But he ruled out this option. "I’m not very happy with my condition", he said. "I’ve done very hard training sessions and I’ve participated to these races. Sometimes, there is only a small line between being in good condition and being too tired. Last week I felt also a little bit sick. Maybe it’s a good sign that my body regenerates."

        He never stopped training during his two seasons off, so he doesn’t consider an eventual delay in his preparation compared to the other great sprinters in the world. "I don’t feel any different after the break", he insisted. "Everything is in the head and it’s a question of circumstances at races. I'm sure that my time will be coming sooner or later."

        The German isn’t going to Turkey as a tourist as many of his compatriots usually do. "I’ll go there to improve my condition for the Tour of Italy", he concluded. "But I also go to any race with the intention of winning something, so will be the case at the Tour of Turkey. Hopefully I’ll be as successful as last time I went there. I’m not sure if it’s exactly the same race. It was a long time ago but I remember the flat stages alongside the coast and some mountains as well."

        It was back in 1996. Still an amateur rider, Hondo had won two stages and the overall classification of the Tour of Turkey, a race that really becomes a big international event in 2008 with the participation of some of the world’s best cyclists.

08.04.2008

# 4

LOCAL RIDERS MERT MUTLU and KEMAL KÜÇÜKBAY AIM AT WINNING

        Mert Mutlu, 34, and Kemal Küçükbay, 26, are both Turkish riders members of the Brissa team. They are delighted to be able to take part in the Presidentiel Tour of Turkey next week alongside cycling stars such as Alessandro Petacchi and Andreas Klöden. They have no doubt that this event will have a significant impact on the development of cycling in their country.

        "I'm 34 and I was born in Bulgaria where I started racing", Mutlu said. I sincerely think that the Presidentiel Tour of Turkey will play a major role for the future of our sport."

        Kemal Küçükbay is younger but alike Mutlu he's considered a good climber. Hailing from the region of Sivas, he started using a bike for going to school. "Now it's my job", he explained. "I think this is the most important race in my career. I'm very motivated to race for one week with some cyclists who are at the top of the sport worldwide. Above all, it will help me to determine what I want for my future."

        Aged 34, Mutlu doubts that he might be able to make a cycling career in Europe but this experience alongside great cycling champions is set to encourage him to prepare for his future as a team manager in Turkey. He trained a lot for his national Tour and he'll try his best for winning a stage as much as anybody else.

        "Winning is anybody's dream and I'm aware that it'll be very hard", he said. "But I'm ready for the challenge."

        In order to make it, Mutlu and Küçükbay will count on the good shape of their team-mates Svetoslav Tchanliev from Bulgaria, Bakhtiar Mamyrov, Pavel Nevdakh and Aleksandr Dymovskikh, all of them being from Kazakhstan. "We've raced together for a few years", Mutlu stated. "As I speak Russian, we have no problem communicating. We know how to work together and we look forward to take part in such an important event."

03.04.2008

# 3  

GIANNI SAVIO: "HELP CYCLING GROW UP IN TURKEY"

        The elegant team manager of the Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli Gianni Savio is a globe-trotter in cycling. Every year he takes his team all over the world and he’ll send his riders with a great hint of pleasure for the first time to the Presidential Tour of Turkey from April 13 to 20.

        "It’s really good that the organizers of this race try and develop our sport in their country", Savio acknowledged. "Football is the traditional sport in Turkey and I underline that for the first time Turkish club Fenerbahce plays the quarter final of the Champions’ League against Chelsea. If the organizers of the Presidential Tour of Turkey keep going in that direction, they’ll reach the top of the world of cycling pretty soon as well. By sending an ambitious team despite the competition with other races in France (Tour du Finistère and Tro Bro Leon) and in Italia (Giro d’Oro and Giro del Trentino), I want to participate to this effort. Cycling is my passion but I also want to live it in its social dimension."

        Recording his holidays thirty years ago, Savio says he knows the Mediterranean coast side of Turkey pretty well. The riders will follow it for the whole week. He told them about the beauty of the landscapes but also the necessity of performing in the race.

        "I hope that our sprinter Danilo Hondo will do well against Alessandro Petacchi", he said. "He won a stage in Le Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia but after that he suffered the long stop in his career during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. At the moment he’s training a lot near the Lago Maggiore in Italy and he can’t wait taking part in the Presidential Tour of Turkey. Ruslan Ivanov who won the overall classification in Le Tour de Langkawi in February will once again be our man for GC."


        The Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli for the Presidential Tour of Turkey will consist of: Danilo Hondo, Gabriele Missaglia, Rouslan Ivanov, Francesco Ginanni, Nazareno Rossi and Manuel Belletti.

 

01.04.2008

# 2  

ASTANA WANTS TO WIN IN TURKEY

        Tom Vaitkus is pointed out for winning sprints

        Being not welcome at a few traditional European events this year, the Astana team took the opportunity to accept the invitation of the organizers of the Presidential Tour of Turkey. Talking about it, directeur sportif Alain Gallopin doesn’t hide his joy nor his ambitions.

        "In the middle of the winter, when we looked at the calendar, we didn’t plan to do this race but we changed our mind when we got to know about some organizers’ decisions", the Frenchman explained. "We want our riders to compete as much as possible. It’s out of question that we leave them at home. The Tour of Turkey is a marvelous opportunity."

        During the classics, Astana will be present in Istanbul, where the inaugural criterium is scheduled for April 13. Their athletes will be hungry for results.

        "At the same time we’ll be riding the Tour of the Basque Country and the Tour of Georgia that are very important for us but our team in Turkey will be a very competitive one. With Tomas Vaitkus, I’m sure we can at least win a stage. I know that Alessandro Petacchi will be there with his main lead out men from Milram but I don’t forget that Vaitkus won a bunch sprint in the Tour of Italy two years ago and this year he already won a stage in the Tour of Algarve and the "Ronde van der Groene Hart" in the Netherlands. Tomas will be backed up by experienced riders but also some young Kazakhs who are learning their job, particularly Andrei Zeits who promises a lot."

        The participation of Andreas Klöden is also considered but the management of Astana is still thinking whether he should be lined up in the Circuit de la Sarthe or in the Tour of the Basque Country. "It’ll be decided in the coming few days", Gallopin stated.

        The directeur sportif of Astana also explained: "I can tell you that my goal is to discover new horizons for cycling. I have noticed that the conditions in Turkey are ideal for the teams with an early start for the criterium and a small transfer to Izmir. From there, we’ll be staying in the start-finish town every day, we’ll be able to enjoy a magnificent landscape and the riders will benefit from a maximum of recovery time. It’s really appealing. We also want to do our best to thank the organizers who accept us to race this year. Those of the Tour of Turkey really want us to start. So I can promise a great race from April 13 to 20."
 

25.03.2008

# 1  

WELCOME TO THE PRESIDENTIAL TOUR OF TURKEY

        April isn’t exclusively a month for the cycling Spring classics. It’s also time to focus on the 8-days long Presidential Tour of Turkey due to take place from April 13 to 20. The star of the start list is Italy’s sprinter ace Alessandro Petacchi.

        The event had its inception back in 1968 and has been promoted as a 2.1 race on the UCI calendar for the first time in 2008. As an ideal build-up competition for the Grand Tours, the Tour of Turkey will welcome a few prestigious teams among which five Pro Tour teams: Team Milram (with Alessandro Petacchi), Saunier Duval (with Ermanno Capelli), Silence-Lotto (with Dominique Cornu), Lampre (with Mirco Lorenzetto) and Astana (with Andreas Klöden).

        Every stage will be broadcasted for two hours in many countries. It will carry the spectacle of the unique sceneries of Turkey. It will consist in the most important promotional program for Turkish tourism and its most famous sites.

        An inaugural criterium is scheduled alongside the Bosphore in the capital Istanbul. The rest of the route will take place between Izmir and Alanya, where the riders will be overshadowed by the 150 towers of the fortress. The Presidential Tour of Turkey will offer the opportunity to admire for eight days the marvelous places of the Mediterranean coast known for his cycling friendly roads in the south of the country.

        Izmir will host the start of stage 1 finishing in the 3000 years old town of Kusadasi. After that, the race will visit Bodrum, which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, Marmaris and its famous sailing club, the world’s most beautiful beach in Ölüdeniz, the district of Finike best known for its oranges, the Turkish Riviera in Antalya before the splendid Alanya. It should bring unforgettable memories to the riders and their support staff.

        Twenty-two professional teams and three national teams will line up in the Presidential Tour of Turkey. A thrilling competition is expected. It will strengthen the background of an event set to become a major one in cycling.