The 51st Presidential Tour of Turkey gets underway on Sunday and Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung will once again take to the start of the 8 stage UCI 2.HC cycling event. It will be the 3rd time our African team take on Turkey’s premier cycling race.
The Tour of Turkey is a race that generally suits all types of sprinters with 6 out of the 8 stages possibly finishing in either a mass or select group sprint. Stages 3 and 6 this year both finish at the summit of cat 1 climbs, ensuring that there is something on offer for the GC riders too. It is the big name sprinters of world cycling that usually dominate the headlines though as they use the Tour of Turkey as a final preparation race for the Giro d’Italia. Mark Cavendish and Andre Greipel will both be at this year’s edition of the race.
Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung will head in to the 8 day tour with a strong and well-rounded team capable of competing for the victory on every stage. Natnael Berhane will lead our GC hopes after having won the event previously in 2013. Theo Bos is also a 2 x stage victor here at the Tour of Turkey and will lead our charge in the mass sprints. Serge Pauwels also hopes to go well in the GC while Kristian Sbaragli and Youcef Reguigui will be giving the select bunch sprints a good crack.
Completing our line-up will be Jay Thomson, Songezo Jim and Adrien Niyonshuti. The 3 African riders will no doubt be looking for that break that always seems to survive at least once a year at the Turkish Tour when not riding in support of the daily protected rider.
Songezo Jim – Rider
J.P Heynderickx – Sport Director
