This Sunday a part of the peloton heads to Turkey for the 50th Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey. The stage race starts on Sunday 27th of April and ends on Sunday 4th of May in the Turkish city of Istanbul.

 

The GC will be shuffled a first time in the third stage, where the riders finish at the top of a first category climb in Elmali. Also the sixth stage, to Selçuk, promises a hard finish uphill.

 

The other stages are more suited for the sprinters. André Greipel will have to contend with fast riders like Theo Bos, Mark Cavendish and Sacha Modolo. For Greipel, who won two stages in Turkey last year, it is his first race after his injury.

 

Lotto Belisol is watching the comeback of Greipel with extra attention. The German muscle man crashed hard in Ghent-Wevelgem and was out for a couple of weeks because of cruciate ligament ruptures between shoulder and collarbone.

 

“Greipel starts with a conditional lag in the Tour of Turkey” says sports director Jean-Pierre Heynderickx. “After the first stages we shall see how well recovered Greipel is after his injury. It is provisionally a big question mark. We don’t know if he can go full force in the sprints. But if that isn’t the case we can count on other riders to participate in the bunch sprint. For example Jonas Van Genechten or Kris Boeckmans.”

 

“Nevertheless we have the intention to win a stage. The Tour of Turkey is each year a feast for the sprinters. There are also two crucial stages with a finish uphill. With Adam Hansen and Pim Ligthart, who is in shape, we could definitely strive for a top ten spot in the GC.”

 

Selection Lotto Belisol: Kris Boeckmans, Vegard Breen, Gert Dockx, André Greipel, Adam Hansen, Greg Henderson, Pim Ligthart and Jonas Van Genechten.