photo credits @ Tour of Turkey
Luis Mas Bonet (Caja Rural) won stage 8 of the Tour of Turkey today, with a late attack that caught his rivals off guard to claim the final stage of this year’s race.
The fInale
With finish line in sight, Mark Cavendish (Etixx-QuickStep) looked to be gaining ground on Bonet during the final 50 meters, but the Spanish rider managed to hold onto this slight 20 meter gap to fend off the Manx Missile, and seize the victory.
In the meantime, Bonet’s teammate, Carlos Barbero, finished in third place to round out the podium.
“At the start we were only thinking about Carlos Barbero for the sprint but then in the final we entered into the final corner first place. I decided to attack and Carlos said don’t stop, don’t stop and I didn’t stop.”
Meanwhile, Kristijan Durasek (Lampre-Merida) finished safely in the peloton, to win the overall race victory, while Eduardo Sepulveda (Bretagne-Séché Environment) finished second, followed by Jay Mccarthy (Tinkoff-Saxo) in third.
Previous race leader, Davide Rebellin (CCC Sprandi) was forced to abandon the stage, after being involved in a crash.
Race Highlights
Carlos Quintero (Colombia), Boris Vallee (Lotto-Soudal), Kenny de Ketele (Topsport Vlaanderen) and Eduard Michael Grosu (Nippo-Vini Fantini), formed the day’s first breakaway group, with the quartet eventfully building up a 2 minute advantage over the peloton.
With 29 kilometers remaining, Rebellin along with a one of his teammates, were involved in a crash, which was later determined to be caused by a stray dog that had made its way onto he course. The Italian rider was seen gripping his left arm, before medics ushered him away in an ambulance.
Back in the race, the peloton continued its pursuit of the escapees, with Iljo Keisse leading the way. And, with just over 4 kilometers remaining, the breakaway was caught.
From there, Bonet attacked the peloton during the final climb and run into the the finish, to claim the final stage win.
Stage 8 Results ESP 1 MAS BONET, Luis (CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA) 2:45:03 GBR 2 CAVENDISH, Mark (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) ESP 3 BARBERO CUESTA, Carlos (CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA) ITA 4 PETACCHI, Alessandro (SOUTHEAST) ITA 5 COLLI, Daniele (NIPPO – VINI FANTINI) ITA 6 RATTO, Daniele (UNITEDHEALTHCARE) ITA 7 APPOLLONIO, Davide (ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI) ESP 8 PRADES REVERTE, Eduard (CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA) BEL 9 JANS, Roy (WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT) DEN 10 NIELSEN, Magnus Cort (ORICA GreenEDGE) BEL 11 DE BUYST, Jasper (LOTTO SOUDAL) KAZ 12 TLEUBAYEV, Ruslan (ASTANA) AUS 13 MCCARTHY, Jay (TINKOFF – SAXO) ALG 14 REGUIGUI, Youcef (MTN – QHUBEKA) POL 15 MARCZYNSKI, Tomasz (TORKU SEKERSPOR) TUR 16 ORKEN, Ahmet (TORKU SEKERSPOR) ITA 17 DE NEGRI, Pier Paolo (NIPPO – VINI FANTINI) ITA 18 BAZZANA, Alessandro (UNITEDHEALTHCARE) ITA 19 BARBIN, Enrico (BARDIANI CSF) + 11 BEL 20 SALOMEIN, Jarl (TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE)
Final General Classification CRO 1 DURASEK, Kristijan (LAMPRE – MERIDA) 31:06:44 ARG 2 SEPULVEDA, Eduardo (BRETAGNE-SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT) + 32 AUS 3 MCCARTHY, Jay (TINKOFF – SAXO) + 56 COL 4 CANO ARDILA, Alex (COLOMBIA) + 1:30 BEL 5 PAUWELS, Serge (MTN – QHUBEKA) + 1:32 ITA 6 SELVAGGI, Mirko (WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT) + 1:58 ITA 7 BARBIN, Enrico (BARDIANI CSF) + 2:01 POL 8 MARCZYNSKI, Tomasz (TORKU SEKERSPOR) + 2:02 AUS 9 HANSEN, Adam (LOTTO SOUDAL) + 2:11 ESP 10 MEGIAS LEAL, Javier (NOVO NORDISK) + 2:15 ESP 11 MAS BONET, Luis (CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA) + 2:22 COL 12 PARRA BUSTAMENTE, Heiner Rodrigo (CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA) + 2:25 ITA 13 RATTO, Daniele (UNITEDHEALTHCARE) + 2:26 KAZ 14 KOZHATAYEV, Bakhtiyar (ASTANA) + 3:42 COL 15 LOPEZ MORENO, Miguel Angel (ASTANA) + 3:51 BEL 16 CAMPENAERTS, Victor (TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE) + 3:54 CAN 17 MEIER, Christian (ORICA GreenEDGE) + 3:57 ITA 18 BATTAGLIN, Enrico (BARDIANI CSF) + 4:12 BEL 19 JACOBS, Pieter (TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE) + 4:19 ITA 20 DE NEGRI, Pier Paolo (NIPPO – VINI FANTINI) + 4:28
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