May 2, 2026
After the big GC day yesterday, the overall contenders will have to pay attention not to make mistakes but they can generally relax today. Stage 7 starts and finishes in Antalya with the majority of the day on flat coastal roads. The Treasures of Turkiye sprint comes early after 33 km of the 158 km stage. The bonus sprint comes 40 km later with 80 km to go but it isn't until 43 km remaining that things should get interesting. There is a mountain sprint near the village of Çamlıca after 2.4 km at 5%. We have seen this scenario quite a bit in this edition of the race so we can assume some teams will try to shed the sprinters but, with 40 km of flat and downhill to the finish back in Antalya, there should be enough time for dropped riders to return to contest a full bunch sprint.
Race Summary
For the first time all week, the rain arrived for sign on. Before the race, a decision was made by the organizers and CPA to set the GC finish 3 km from the actual finish line if the roads were dry. If the rain continued and the finale was wet, the GC would be taken 15 km from the finish but in both scenarios, a stage result would be fought for. By the time the flag dropped at KM0, the sun was out but the roads were still wet which would have made more than a few riders nervous given how slippery the roads can become in this part of the world. As the break was getting established, the course cut diagonally across wet tram tracks which spelled disaster. At least 10 riders went down including two from the break. There didn't seem to be any injuries but it was a reminder to stay vigilent. As cameras started rolling with 78 km to go, the roads had dried out but there was no established break as of yet. Talha Tektaş of Muğla Büyükşehir Belediyesi Spor Kulübü, Doğukan Arikan of Spor Toto, Piotr Pękala of ATT Investments, and Axandre Van Petegem of Tarteletto-Isorox were just off the front of the bunch and starting to build an advantage over the Caja Rural-Seguros RGA led peloton.
With 50 km to go, the four leads had built 2 minutes but there was no panic from the bunch who were still tapping along behind. A few kilometers later, Alpecin-Premier Tech moved to the front along with Flanders Baloise and others as the climb was approaching. The bunch rode hard enough to reduce the gap to the break but it wasn't at full speed. Everyone tucked in the slip stream looked comfortable and the bunch reached the top just 50 seconds after Tektaş won the sprint for the mountains points at the top.
With 31 km to go, there were a few rain drops showing on the helicopter camera lens and it brought the decision of the finish line back into question. It wasn't clear how late the call would be made on where the finish would be. Jonas Rickaert of Alpecin-Premier Tech went back to the race commessaire's car for a quick talk. He came away with a thumbs up so it was assumed that the race would continue to the original finish line with GC times held at 3 km to go.
The gap was dangling at around 10 seconds and Pękala decided to attack the break and go solo. Ahmet Örken of Spor Toto came out of the peloton and bridged to Pękala with 20 km remaining and the pair teamed up to fend off the bunch. With just 17 km to go, word came through that GC times would be taken at 15 km but the stage would still finish down in Antalya. It seemed like a good decision because just 1 km down the road, the surface was completely soaked and looking quite dangerous.
The descent into Antalya began with 14 km to go and the entire race took things extremely gingerly. The downhill eased and flattened with 12 km to go and everyone seemed to have made it down safely. At this point, the two leaders had 30 seconds on the peloton who were reorganizing for the run in to the finish line. The bunch made it through a damp, sweeping left turn at 5 km without issue and had the last two riders at just 6 seconds. The road was three full lanes wide which made holding position almost impossible.
The race was all together with 3 km to go and it was starting to get dicey. Riders were swirling in the washing machine and the only team to have any cohesion was Picnic-PostNL who were in a line with six riders. The Picnic-PostNL train completely dissolved over the next few hundred meters, leaving Casper Van Uden to fend for himself with 1,500 meters to go. TotalEnergies, XDS-Astana, and Caja Rural-Seguros RGA were the primary teams at the front with Flanders Baloise and ATT Investments fighting to stay near the front. There was no control in the last 500 meters and everyone seemed to be looking around for someone to lead out. Bardiani CSF 7 Saber came up with Marco Manenti in the wheel and they launched to the front at 200 meters with Davide Ballerini of XDS-Astana on the other side of the road. 100 meters from the line, everyone looked cooked and at least three riders were in a seated sprint just trying to make it to the line. Ballerini was able to outlast Marceli Bogusławski of ATT Investments who was the closest when Ballerini hit the finish line. Tom Crabbe of Flanders Baloise was only able to sprint in the last 50 meters but it was enough to get into third on the day, just behind Bogusławski.
There were no changes in the top 10 on GC. Berwick retained the Turquoise jersey and will wear it going into the last day in Ankara.