Sprinters return on stage five in Turkey as Peron breaks into top ten

A rolling first half of stage five of the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey from Manisa to Ayvalik saw the early breakaway escape over the only climbs of the day before the peloton left it very late it all back together. Catching the last escapee inside the final 2km before another crash disrupted the finale with Andrea Peron finally breaking into the top ten.

Andrea Peron:

“It was another windy day, but we were ready for it and there was only one echelon that formed behind the initial breakaway, and we were positioned really well so we made the split. At one point I thought there may be only be fifty guys that make it to the line, but things settled down and it all came back together.”

“The sprint was hectic again and thankfully the crash happened behind. I was positioned really well with 150m to go, and I felt good, but a guy to the right of me dropped his chain and moved over as I was passing so I had to shift my line. But I’m happy to finally make it into the top ten, it was one of our goals for the race and I’m hungry for more now.”

General manager Vassili Davidenko:

“No surprises today and the stage went pretty much as planned for us, it was another windy one and we were wide awake when the echelon formed and our positioning remained good throughout the stage, keeping our chances alive for Andrea at the end.”

“Top ten is great for us, we had that objective at the start of the race and kept coming close, so to achieve the result is satisfying, but we need to do it again on the days to come. Andrea did a good job in the sprint and managed to position himself well to follow the right wheels, it wasn’t an easy finish and I’m happy with how it went today.”