April 28, 2026
There are two GC days in this edition of the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkiye and today is the first. It's a short day at just 132 km but packs in nearly 3,200 meters of elevation gain along the way from Marmaris to Kıran. The first 50 km of the day back tracks much of what the riders tackled in yesterday's finale all the way North to Akyaka. The course turns West to take on a large 75 km loop that includes an 18.4 km climb. The full ascent averages just under 5 % but the first 5 km are consistently above 8%. The race will stay high up on the plateau for an intermediate sprint before plunging back into Akyaka with 20 km to go. There is an 11 km run along the coast before the riders will turn right and start the climb up to Kıran. The gradients are remarkably consistent for the entire 9 km ascent, pushing 10% the entire way, making this a serious sorting out for the GC.
Race Summary
The temperatures were heating up with the mercury rising to 26C (80F) but the humidity along the Mediterranean Sea was low making for comfortable racing conditions. There was a big fight to get into the break but when it went, only three riders were in the move. Those riders were Rudolf Remkhi of Muğla Büyükşehir Belediyesi Spor Kulübü, Jonas Rickaert of Alpecin-Premier Tech, and Mustafa Tekin of Spor Toto. They split up over the long 18 km ascent and it was Remkhi who took the points at the top with Tekin and Rickaert each riding by themselves behind to the summit. With 59 km to go, Remkhi was still away on his own with a lead of 3 minutes back to the Caja Rural-Seguros RGA led peloton.
The Spanish squad were unrelenting in their chase and had Remkhi at 1 minute with 45 km to go. Remkhi had just about enough time to snag the sprint points with 40.5 to go but not much more because the peloton was whirring behind. Remkhi was caught a few kilometers later and the bunch took the opportunity to stretch, get fresh bottles, and refuel before the summit finish.
The pace spiced up with 30 km to go to position for the fast highway descent into Akyaka. There were a few riders tailed off the back but the majority of the peloton were together when they reached the coast road with 19 km to go, 9 km until the start of the final climb. Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, Modern Adventure, and TotalEnergies were all present near the front as they brought their leaders forward to start the ascent to Kıran as close to the front as possible.
Caja Rural-Seguros RGA led the peloton through the right turn, away from the turquoise waters of the Gökova Gulf, and onto the steep mountain road. Sergio Samitier of Cofidis was the first attacker after just a few hundred meters with TotalEnergies setting up a chasing train behind. Samitier was hauled back by Geoffrey Bouchard who was emptying the tank for his teammate, Jordan Jegat. There were a few surprises in the first 4 km of the climb. Byron Munton of Modern Adventure was dropped along with Abel Balderstone of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA. Balderstone still had his teammates, José Félix Parra and Sebastian Berwick, in the front but it was Balderstone who we assumed was team leader.
With 5 km still to the top, Kamiel Bonneu of Solution Tech-Nippo Rali went on the attack but he was countered by Iván Ramiro Sosa of Equipo Kern Pharma. Sosa went clear and with 3 km to go, he had about 15 seconds on Bonneu with the rest of the favorites group another 10 seconds down the mountain. 1 km later, Bonneu was joined by Nicolas Breuillard of TotalEnergies and Alessandro Fancellu of MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort. A push came from Berwick out of the cluster of riders who were sitting in the third group on the road. He was quickly across to Fancellu, Breuillard, and Bonneu and dropped them all one by one. In the last 500 meters, Sosa was starting to struggle and the gap to Berwick was closing fast. It was down to 10 seconds with 300 meters to go but was slightly too much for Berwick to overcome. Sosa rounded the last few corners and came across the finish line exhausted and barely able to raise an arm. Berwick finished 9 seconds later with Breuillard in third at 15 seconds.
The GC now matches the stage result with Sosa leading Berwick and Breuillard with some tricky stages to come and one more summit finish later in the week.