André Greipel will again lead Lotto Soudal in the Tour of Turkey.

The peloton will be in Turkey for the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey. The 52nd edition of this stage race takes the riders in eight days through the Turkish landscape across some nice shores. The course is a bit different compared to previous years but the global concept remains the same. Both the sprinters and the climbers will have a few opportunities to show themselves.

Sports director Mario Aerts saud: “It’s a different organization this year and it’s clear that they’re not well prepared. We didn’t get much information about the course for instance. That makes it difficult for us because we were unable to prepare the stages. I know that a few stages remain the same compared to previous editions. The sixth stage will be most likely the queen stage, the climb to Elmali is really tough. Last year the GC was determined after this stage. The final stage finishes in Selçuk, that’s also a stage which sounds familiar to me. Again, this stage ends with an uphill finish so the GC riders will certainly try to attack (the stage has a dowhill finish, ed.). This race begins with the stage in and around Istanbul, the past few years this was the final stage. We’ll see if the road book can provide us with more information.”

A part of the Lotto Soudal line-up will ride their first race in the Tour of Turkey after a long rehabilitation. Stig Broeckx starts again after his collision in Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, Gert Dockx returns to competition after an elbow fracture which he incurred in Nokere Koerse, Greg Henderson is fully recovered from his perineal injury and Kris Boeckmans rides his first stage race after he had to abandon the Vuelta a Catalunya due to illness.

Mario Aerts said: “Several riders come back in competition in this stage race after a long absence. It’s a nice race and the weather conditions are normally very good, that’s perfect to obtain race rhythm. Stig Broeckx, Gert Dockx and Greg Henderson were able to train well but no one can predict beforehand how their feeling will be during the race. Jelle Wallays had a rest period after Paris-Roubaix and he’ll do some preparations for the second part of the season. Kris Boeckmans will hopefully take another big step, this stage race will be very useful for his further goals in this season.

"Of course we’ll try to obtain a stage win with André Greipel, he’s very motivated to win a race again. Henderson will be his lead-out, but also Hansen, Boeckmans and the other riders can play their role in the sprint train of Greipel. Adam Hansen will again aim for a good position on GC, he already obtained some nice top ten results in the Tour of Turkey (Hansen finished ninth on GC in 2014 and 2015, ed.).

"This race is not part of the WorldTour but it will be a hard week. A lot of smaller teams participate in this race and they’ll give their all in every stage. It won’t be a ‘walk in the park’, that’s for sure.”

Roster Lotto Soudal: 

Kris Boeckmans, Stig Broeckx, Gert Dockx, Frederik Frison, André Greipel, Adam Hansen, Greg Henderson and Jelle Wallays.