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45th Presidential Cycling Tour - 2.1
Turkey, April 12-19, 2009
2008 results Stage List Preview Start List Past winners
The Stages
- Stage 1 - April 12: Istanbul - Istanbul, 142km
- Stage 2 - April 13: Izmir - Kusadasi, 132.5km
- Stage 3 - April 14: Kusadasi - Bodrum, 166.1km
- Stage 4 - April 15: Bodrum - Marmaris, 166.9km
- Stage 5 - April 16: Marmaris - Fethiye, 130km
- Stage 6 - April 17: Fethiye - Finike, 194km
- Stage 7 - April 18: Finike - Antalya, 114.5km
- Stage 8 - April 19: Antalya - Alanya , 166km
Sprinting in paradise
By Jean-François Quénet
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The 45th Presidential Tour of Turkey starts on Sunday and runs over eight stages and a total of 1212 kilometres. The stages range from 130 to 194 kilometres and there will be no time trials.
It's been a shock for the professional cyclists to discover the Tour of Turkey last year. For the first time after 43 previous editions, the race was upgraded to the UCI category 1 level and opened to ProTour teams. Riders and staff were amazed by the beauty of the coastal landscapes alongside the Bosphorus Strait, the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas, the quality of the accommodation and the huge potential of the country in terms of cycling organisation.
Even in April, Turkey is sunny while most of the riders are competing in the north of Europe in difficult weather conditions. This has led to a surge in interest, with the race being broadcast live for two hours daily in 123 countries via Eurosport International (Europe and Asia) and Dubai Sport, among others.
Like last year the race will finish in Alanya, the hometown of Turkey Abdullah Gül, the President of the Republic. He was delighted to see the impact of the event overseas. "Cycling is the kind of sport that shows our country to the world," he declared.
More ProTour teams
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The level of the teams lining up this year has been lifted up with five Pro Tour teams (Quick Step, Silence-Lotto, Milram, Lampre-NGC and Fuji-Servetto) and nine Pro Continental teams out of the 20 participating teams. At the last minute, the Italo-Ukrainian squad ISD has replaced Katusha whose Russian riders were facing troubles with regards to visas.
This has forced on-form Danilo Napolitano to give way to fellow sprinters Ivan Dominguez, Hilton Clarke and Alberto Benitez (Fuji-Servetto), Robert Förster (Milram), Gorik Gardeyn (Silence-Lotto), Steffen Radochla (Elk-Haus) and Ruben Bongiorno (CSF).
German Danilo Hondo will debut with his new team PSK Whirlpool. South African Robert Hunter (Barloworld) gears up for the Giro d'Italia and faces the competition of compatriot Nolan Hoffman, riding for Neotel. In the sprinters' category Theo Bos (Rabobank Continental) will also be a big attraction. Four stages are suitable for the fast finishers.
Defending champion David Garcia Dapena and his teammate Gustavo Cesar Veloso (Xacobeo-Galicia) are highly motivated for a double, up while Kevin Seeldraeyers (Quick Step) is seen as the hot favourite for this year's Tour of Turkey, after finishing fifth in Paris-Nice.
Markus Fothen (Milram), Pieter Jacobs and Christophe Brandt (Silence-Lotto), Filippo Savini (CSF), Daniel Musiol (Vorarlberg), Oscar Gatto (ISD) and Janek Tombak (CC Bourgas) are also travelling to Istanbul with high ambitions.
The 20 participating teams: Quick Step, Silence-Lotto, Milram, Lampre-NGC, Fuji-Servetto, Contentpolis-Ampo, Elk-Haus, CSF Group-Navigare, Acqua e Sapone, PSK-Whirlpool, Barloworld, Vorarlberg-Corratec, Xacobeo-Galicia, ISD, Neotel, Loborika, Rabobank Continental, CC Bourgas as well as the national teams from Germany and Turkey.
Start list
Xacobeo Galicia Fuji-Servetto
1 David Garcia Dapena (Spa) 11 Boris Shpilevsky (Rus)
2 Gustavo César Veloso (Spa) 12 Ángel Gómez Gómez (Spa)
3 Pedro Fernandez Hermina (Spa) 13 Ivan Dominguez (Cub)
4 Gonzalo Rabunal Rios (Spa) 14 Héctor González Baeza (Spa)
5 Héctor Espasandín Rama (Spa) 15 Alberto Fernandez De La Puebla (Spa)
6 Delio Fernandez Cruz (Spa) 16 Hilton Clarke (Aus)
7 Carlos Castaño Panadero (Spa) 17 Paolo Bailetti (Ita)
8 Vladimir Isaychev (Rus) 18 Alberto Benitez Roman (Spa)
Lampre - N.G.C Quick Step
21 Emanuele Bindi (Ita) 31 Dominique Cornu (Bel)
22 Vitaliy Buts (Ukr) 32 Mauro Facci (Ita)
23 Simone Ponzi (Ita) 33 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel)
24 David Loosli (Swi) 34 Davide Malacarne (Ita)
25 Francesco Tomei (Ita) 35 Hubert Schwab (Swi)
26 Volodymyr Zagorodny (Ukr) 36 Kevin Seeldrayers (Bel)
27 Andréa Grendene (Ita) 37 Thomas Vedel Kvist (Den)
38 Marco Velo (Ita)
Silence-Lotto ISD
41 Bart Dockx (Bel) 51 Alessandro Proni (Ita)
42 Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) 52 Gianluca Mirenda (Ita)
43 Pieter Jacobs (Bel) 53 Dmytro Grabovskyy (Ukr)
44 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) 54 Oscar Gatto (Ita)
45 Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) 55 Davide Ricci Bitti (Ita)
46 Tom Stubbe (Bel) 56 Cristian Benenati (Ita)
47 Christophe Brandt (Bel)
Team Milram Elk Haus
61 Luca Barla (Ita) 71 Stefan Rucker (Aut)
62 Robert Förster (Ger) 72 Stefan Denifl (Aut)
63 Markus Fothen (Ger) 73 Clemens Fankhauser (Aut)
64 Artur Gajek (Ger) 74 Wolfgang Murer (Aut)
65 Christian Kux (Ger) 75 Steffen Radochla (Ger)
66 Matthias Russ (Ger) 76 Daniel Schorn (Aut)
67 Wim Stroetinga (Ned) 77 Markus Eibegger (Aut)
68 Paul Voss (Ger) 78 Jan Valach (Svk)
Vorarlberg - Corratec PSK Whirlpool - Author
81 Harald Morscher (Aut) 91 Andre Schulze (Ger)
82 Josef Benetseder (Aut) 92 Matthias Friedemann (Ger)
83 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) 93 Stanislav Kozubek (Cze)
84 Christoph Sokoll (Aut) 94 Pavel Zitta (Cze)
85 Sébastian Siedler (Ger) 95 Vojtech Dlouhy (Cze)
86 Andreas Dietziker (Swi) 96 Danilo Hondo (Ger)
87 Daniel Musiol (Ger) 97 Frantisek Padour (Cze)
88 Pascal Hungerbühler (Swi) 98 Frantisek Kloucek Jr. (Cze)
Contentpolis-Ampo Barloworld
101 Javier Benitez Pomares (Spa) 111 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita)
102 Oleg Chuzhda (Ukr) 112 Carlo Scognamiglio (Ita)
103 Oscar Garcia Casarrubios Pintor (Spa) 113 Diego Caccia (Ita)
104 Francisco José Pacheco Torres (Spa) 114 Gian-Paolo Cheula (Ita)
105 Sergio Dominguez Munoz (Spa) 115 Patrick Calcagni (Swi)
106 Ruben Reig Conejero (Spa) 116 Robert Hunter (RSA)
107 Adrian Palomares Villaplana (Spa) 117 Daryl Impey (RSA)
108 Rafael Serrano Fernandez (Spa)
CSF Group - Navigare Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo
121 Guillermo Ruben Bongiorno (Ita) 131 Francesco Di Paolo (Ita)
122 Tiziano Dall'Antonia (Ita) 132 Alessandro Donati (Ita)
123 Alan Marangoni (Ita) 133 Alessandro Fantini (Ita)
124 Mauro Finetto (Ita) 134 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita)
125 Marcello Pavarin (Ita) 135 Diego Milan Jimenez (Spa)
126 Mauro Abel Richeze (Arg) 136 Didac Ortega (Spa)
127 Filippo Savini (Ita) 137 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita)
128 Marco Frapporti (Ita) 138 Luca Pierfelici (Ita)
Cycling Club Bourgas Loborika
141 Janek Tombak (Est) 151 Hrvoje Miholjevic (Cro)
142 Angelov Hristomir (Bul) 152 Tomislav Danculovic (Cro)
143 Evgeny Petar Panayotov (Bul) 153 Emanuel Kiserlovski (Cro)
144 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) 154 Darko Blazevic (Cro)
145 Erki Putsep (Est) 155 Zvonimir Pokupec (Cro)
146 Matti Helminen (Fin) 156 Radoslav Rogina (Cro)
147 Martin Prazdnovsky (Svk) 157 Vid Ogris (Slo)
148 Stefan Histrov (Bul) 158 Massimo Demarin (Cro)
Rabobank Continental Team Stegcomputer - Neotel
161 Theo Bos (Ned) 171 Roger Beuchat (Swi)
162 Mats Boeve (Ned) 172 Carlo Westphal (Ger)
163 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) 173 Benjamin Stauder (Ger)
164 Joeri Adams (Bel) 174 Tigran Korkotyan (Arm)
165 Martijn Keizer (Ned) 175 Janusch Laule (Ger)
166 Boy Van Poppel (Ned) 176 Johann Rabie (RSA)
167 Thomas Rabou (Ned) 177 Nolan Hoffmann (RSA)
168 Michael Van Staeyen (Bel) 178 James Lewis Perry (RSA)
German National Team Turkish National Team
181 Erik Mohs (Ger) 191 Ugur Marmara (Tur)
182 Maurice Calles (Ger) 192 Behcet Usta (Tur)
183 Sascha Damrow (Ger) 193 Mirac Kal (Tur)
184 Thomas Juhas (Ger) 194 Bunyamin Ozdemir (Tur)
185 Harry Kraft (Ger) 195 Serhat Sert (Tur)
186 Theo Reinhart (Ger) 196 Ismail Aksoy (Tur)
187 Michael Riedle (Ger) 197 Mustafa Sayar (Tur)
188 Tino Thomel (Ger) 198 Eyup Karagobek (Tur)
Past winners
2008 David Garcia Dapena (Spa) Karpin Galicia Past winners by Mario Stiehl, www.world-of-cycling.com
