Among the most beautiful stage races in the international calendar, but also one of the most relaxed and enjoyable, the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey (or TUR, for short) celebrated its 50th edition in 2014 and this year enters its second half-century.
Announced in Istanbul today, the route of the 2015 race retains its essential charm, while combining tantalising stages for the sprinters with sumptuous mountain stages where the overall general classification will, in all probability, be decided.
Sprinter’s Paradise
TUR has become a magnet for the world’s great sprinters – Mark Cavendish won 4 stages in 2014, and Marcel Kittel won 3 stages the year before, Andrei Greipel won 9 stages since 2010. True to form, this year’s edition offers no less than six possible sprint stages.
But TUR has also seen unforgettable breakaway victories in recent years, the greatest of them Iljo Keisse’s exhilarating win at Izmir in 2012 after a fall on the final corner and a breathless recovery in front of the charging peloton, led by Marcel Kittel, who finished in the same time – centimetres behind the triumphant Keisse.
Breathtaking Mountain Stages
For the decisive mountain finishes, TUR 2015 will return to the natural, mountain top amphitheatre at Elmalı, and to the wooded slopes at Selçuk. At these locations, Adam Yates of Orica – GreenEdge finished second and first respectively to seal the first stage race victory of his career in last year’s TUR.
For the first time since 2011, the race returns to the World Heritage Site of Pamukkale (meaning ‘cotton castle’ in Turkish), where, over the millennia,hot springs have created extraordinary travertines, brilliant white terraces of carbonate minerals.
The evening after the traditional stage into Izmir, the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara, a logistical operation of vast proportions transfers the entire race entourage to Istanbul for one of the most magnificent final stages in cycling.
Iconic Final Stage
TUR 2015 closes with a final stage through Istanbul that starts between the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia, in Sultanahmet Square, over the Bosphorus Bridge that connects two continents – the European land mass and Asia – and then 8 final circuits before the final sprint in Bagdat Street.
In recent years the President of Turkish Republic himself has attended the final stage to award the prizes and give his stamp of approval to a race that is now a favorite among some of the world’s finest cyclists.
Turkish Beauty
Every year, TUR explores roads lined with the Roman amphitheatres, early Christian sites, Islamic splendours and storybook bays and beaches that make Turkey an enticing destination for international visitors.
Among myriad other sites of profound historical and cultural interest, this year’s race route returns to the stunning coastlines around Alanya and Antalya, the church in Myra where St Nicholas (Santa Claus) presided as Bishop of Myra (modern-day Demre), stunning Marmaris beside its vast bay of pristine turquoise waters, and the House of the Virgin Mary on Mt. Koressos (Turkish: Bülbüldağı, “Mount Nightingale”) where the Virgin Mary is said to have lived out her final years in Ephesus.
The Stages
The stages in the 2015 Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey are as follows:
Stage 1, 26 April: Alanya-Alanya Stage 2, 27 April: Alanya Antalya Stage 3, 28 April: Kemer – Elmalı Stage 4, 29 April: Fethiye-Marmaris Stage 5, 30 April: Muğla – Pamukkale Stage 6, 1 May: Denizli – Selçuk Stage 7, 2 May: Selçuk-İzmir Stage 8, 3 May: Istanbul-Istanbul
https://www.tourofturkey.org/2015/news/stage-route-announced-traditional-balance-maintained
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