April 26, 2026
The 61st Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkiye kicks off from Çeşme on the Aegean Sea. The beach resort town is situated just West of Izmir, Turkiye's third largest city, and was crucial to the coastal defenses hundreds of years ago with a 15th century fortress still sitting proudly along the shore. Turkiye is an enormous country making it impossible for the national tour to cover every region. All of the stages, with the exception of the last day in Ankara, hug the Western and Southern shores of the country with a few incursions inland to pick up elevation for the GC riders. There are not many of those inland turns on day one however. The 149 km stage only has about 1,300 meters of elevation as it runs East then South to reach the banks of the Icarian Sea before the finish in Selçuk. On each stage, there are two intermediate sprints, one being the Treasures of Turkiye sprint which offers the leader a jersey to wear, making the battle for the break very important for the lower tier teams. We should see the sprinters taking the first leader's jersey because there are only a few little lumps on the run to the finish which the peloton should skip right over.
Highlighted Riders
Sprinters: Davide Ballerini, Simon Dehairs, Casper Van Uden, Fernando Gaviria, Jules Hesters, Tom Crabbe, Giovanni Lonardi, Jason Tesson, Stanisław Aniołkowski, Riley Pickrell, Timothy Dupont
GC: Henok Mulubrhan, Merhawi Kudus, Juan Guillermo Martinez, Abel Balderstone, Jordan Jegat, Geoffrey Bouchard, Jannis Peter, Alessandro Fancellu, Byron Munton
Race Summary
The weather could not have been more perfect at 20C (68F) which is exactly what everyone would have been hoping for when Turkiye was added to their program. It was clear to see why so many people flock to Çeşme for their holiday's because the water was a beautifully clear blue/green, perfect for exploring all of the underwater archaelogical sites in the area. A break got away quickly once the flag dropped and was heavily represented by the local squads. The group consisted of Mewael Girmay of Istanbul Team, Ahmet Can Akpınar of Konya Büyükşehir Belediye Spor, Halil İbrahim Doğan of Muğla Büyükşehir Belediyesi Spor Kulübü, Kaan Soylu Ozkalbim of Spor Toto, and Michał Pomorski of ATT Investments. They had a maximum advantage of around 4 minutes 30 seconds with Alpecin-Premier Tech and Picnic-PostNL controlling in the peloton behind. When the break arrived on our screens with 78 km remaining, they were still holding 3 minutes 45 seconds.
The gap steadily decreased and with 48 km to go when Flanders-Baloise added a man to the chase, the advantage to the break was down to 2 minutes 30 seconds. The race continued to tap along but many would have wanted to take a stop under an umbrella at the beach of Ürkmez Belediye. The flora of the region was also unique with olives, figs, Turkish pine, Mediterranean cypress, and cultivated groves of citrus trees all around. As the break approached the final intermediate sprint with 40.5 km to go, their gap had tumbled to 1 minute 45 seconds. As the sprint was taking shape, they came up to the line and it looked like Girmay would take the sprint but his chain came off and could not pedal. Pomorski came around and took the sprint, just like he did on the KOM and the Treasures of Turkiye sprint earlier in the stage.
With all of the intermediate prizes in the rear view mirror, the break had little else to fight for and their demeanor slumped a bit. The slower pace was matched by the peloton and the gap hung around 1 minute 20 seconds as teams started to organize and find their teammates before the finale. Cofidis showed their intentions at stage honors by placing a rider in the chase with 22 km to go. There was no more playing around with the gap as Cofidis and Picnic-PostNL drove hard to keep the speed up into the last few kilometers.
The road was packed from gutter to gutter with 12 km to go as teams fought for position. Pomorski proved to be the strongest and was the last man standing but he too was swallowed up by the peloton with 7.5 km to go. Tension was high with 4 km to go as everyone was battling to be at the front as the bunch came into the more urban area of Selçuk. Tarteletto-Isorex took control from 3 to 2 km to go but their train disintegrated when XDS-Astana, Polti-VisitMalta, and Picnic-PostNL arrived back at the front. There were lots of fresh legs after a relatively easy day in the saddle which offered belief to many involved but it also made for a more dangerous sprint. It was still Picnic-PostNL leading when the bunch screamed under 1 km to go but Alpecin-Premier Tech made a run and arrived just in time. They swapped turns with Picnic-PostNL in the last few hundred meters but the line didn't come quick enough and both teams ran out of riders with around 300 meters to go. Simon Dehairs of Alpecin-Premier Tech was forced to start the sprint with about 250 meters to go and the barriers tight on his right side. It looked like the win was going to go to either Dehairs or Davide Persico of MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort but with 50 meters to go, Tom Crabbe of Flanders Baloise found a seam and hit it with speed coming out of Fernando Gaviria's slip stream in fifth wheel. Crabbe sailed passed Persico and Dehairs and won the stage by a full bike length. Dehairs just hung on to second place with Persico in for third.