Arvid de Kleijn once again showed his sprinting prowess at the Tour of Turkey, claiming an impressive fourth-place finish on stage 2 behind Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck – Quick Step), Jasper Phillipsen (Alpecin-Fenix), and Andre Greipel (Israel Start-Up Nation). The result sees de Kleijn, who won stage 1, tied for the overall GC and Points lead with Cavendish.
“I was in a good position in the last corner but someone took my inside and I had to hit the brakes,” said de Kleijn. “That was a mistake and it created a gap to Cavendish. I knew I’d have to do a long sprint but that it would be for fourth. My legs were good and I’m happy that I could feature in the finish.”
For much of the stage, an eight rider breakaway maintained a slender advantage over the peloton thanks to the efforts of Emerson Oronte and the other sprinter’s teams. Canadian Nickolas Zukowsky, who was vital in setting up de Kleijn for his stage 1 victory, was caught up in a crash and injured his hand. Thankfully, he was able to remount his bike while Pier-André Coté picked up the leadout torch to position de Kleijn for the finale.
“Today was perfect with the team as we were together and towards the front all day,” said de Kleijn. “We’ll see what tomorrow brings but I hope it will be a mass sprint to see what I can do. We’ve shown that we’re here to get results.”
De Kleijn will wear the green Points jersey on stage 3 to Alanya, a 212km journey that all but ensures another mad dash to the line. Live streaming of the stage is available through GCN+. Coverage starts at 5 am CT and concludes at 7 am CT. Turkish broadcaster TRT SPOR will also be covering the race at no cost.
Stage 2 results
1 CAVENDISH Mark Deceuninck – Quick Step 3:17:26
2 PHILIPSEN Jasper Alpecin-Fenix ”
3 GREIPEL André Israel Start-Up Nation ”
4 DE KLEIJN Arvid Rally Cycling “
5 ANIOŁKOWSKI Stanisław Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB ”
6 PEÑALVER Manuel Burgos-BH ”
7 LONARDI Giovanni Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè ”
8 MOZZATO Luca B&B Hotels p/b KTM ”
9 ZABEL Rick Israel Start-Up Nation ”
10 WÆRENSKJOLD Søren Uno-X Pro Cycling Team ”
GC after stage 2
1 CAVENDISH Mark Deceuninck – Quick Step 5 4:52:54
2 DE KLEIJN Arvid Rally Cycling “
3 PHILIPSEN Jasper Alpecin-Fenix 0:04
4 HALVORSEN Kristoffer Uno-X Pro Cycling Team ”
5 GREIPEL André Israel Start-Up Nation 0:06
6 BARBIER Pierre DELKO ”
7 ZAKHAROV Artyom Astana – Premier Tech 0:07
8 DE BIE Sean Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB ”
9 SLIK Ivar ABLOC CT 0:08
10 BUTS Vitaliy Salcano Sakarya BB Team ”
Points after stage 2
1 CAVENDISH Mark Deceuninck – Quick Step 27
2 DE KLEIJN Arvid Rally Cycling 27
3 PHILIPSEN Jasper Alpecin-Fenix 25
4 GREIPEL André Israel Start-Up Nation 23
5 BARBIER Pierre DELKO 18
6 LONARDI Giovanni Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè 18
7 PEÑALVER Manuel Burgos-BH 17
8 HALVORSEN Kristoffer Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 14
9 ANIOŁKOWSKI Stanisław Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB 11
10 BELLETTI Manuel EOLO-Kometa 8
