Giovanni Visconti will bring back the first “Turquoise maillot” to Italy as the colour of the leader’s jersey has changed from yellow to the mythical colour of Turkish birthstone this year. This is the first stage race overall win for the 27 year old but the 46th Presidential Tour of Turkey will also be remembered for the five stage wins of the great German sprinter Andre Greipel from the world’s best team HTC-Columbia who scored again in the town of Alanya at the end of the eight days “Tur”.
In this final stage, four riders went clear after 25 kilometers: Ermanno Capelli (Footon-Servetto), Kalle Kriit (Cofidis), David Deroo (Skil-Shimano) and Bartlomiej Matysiak (CCC Polsat). They received the reinforcement of Moldovan national champion Oleg Berdos (De Rosa-Stac Plastic) at km 28.
The ISD-Neri team of race leader Visconti made sure they kept the race under control, therefore the breakaway riders never got the opportunity to lead the race by more than 2.20. Eventually, HTC-Columbia took care of the chase with 35km to go at the difference of the previous stage when they let other teams – mainly Colnago-CSF – to do the job.
Capelli and Deroo were the last two breakaway riders to get caught by the bunch just within ten kilometres to go. It was the most challenging sprint Greipel got exposed to this week as he got boxed in but eventually managed to overtake his rivals before the line. “He’s just unbeatable”, runner up Angelo Furlan lamented.
It was also impossible for anybody to dethrone Visconti after he took the lead on stage 4 in Pamukkale. “It’s been harder for me to maintain the lead than take it”, the Italian explained. “I’m quite fast so I took the jersey thanks to the time bonuses. The defence of the jersey is due to the fantastic team that has worked for me from the first to the last of my team-mates and also my directeur sportif Luca Scinto who always told me I should be more confident in my capacities to win races. This win is a nice step in my career towards other successes I hope.”
Visconti was full of praise for Turkey after receiving trophies, fresh oranges and bananas in Alanya. “When I’ll go back to Italy, I’ll tell my friends and family that I want to go back to Turkey, that says all”, Visconti said with a large smile. “I’ve enjoyed the nice weather, the great landscapes and the warm welcome of the Turkish people, it’s been a great week.”