The queen stage of this year’s Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey turned into a battle of will when near freezing rain drenched the WorldTour peloton heading into the epic summit finish of stage five.
Once Evan Huffman’s work was done on the lower slopes of the 12 km climb to Kartepe, Rob Britton took over with Kyle Murphy close behind as the Rally UHC Cycling duo went toe to toe with some of the world’s best climbers. Murphy finished seventh on the stage to move into 10th on General Classification while Britton came in 10th.
“The second I crossed the line I started to think about things I could have done better,” said Murphy. “So in some ways I’m happy, but until you win, with perfect execution, I don’t think we can be satisfied. It was a great learning experience and I’m very proud with how we as a team have been meshing this week.”
With temperatures approaching the freezing mark and rain falling, the conditions were as difficult as they come. Murphy stayed focused and took advantage of his teammates’ work breaking the wind, collecting rain jackets, and keeping him topped off on bottles.
“It was a cold start, then it rained off and on all day,” said Murphy. “Days like today you just have to stay calm, keep warm, and ride as a team. On these wide roads, there is plenty of time to grab proper clothing from the team car and no excuse to not stay warm, especially with everyone’s help.”
The stage six finale into Istanbul is expected to be a field sprint so although the team is pleased with a possible top 10 in the overall of a WorldTour stage race, they are still hungry for more.
“Tomorrow we have a technical, lumpy sprint, so look for me in the leadout,” said a smiling Murphy, who is keen to repay his sprinters for all of their hard work. “We have been polishing the leadouts all week and the safest place to be in these sprints is on the front. We have one more day to put something together for the team and I know our sprinters are hungry to deliver.”
Stage 5 results
1 GROSSSCHARTNER Felix Bora – Hansgrohe AUT 04h17’13” 10”
2 CONTI Valerio Uae Team Emirates ITA 04h17’22” 09” 6”
3 KUDUS Merhawi Astana Pro Team ERI 04h17’22” ” 4”
4 EVENEPOEL Remco Deceuninck – Quick – Step BEL 04h17’29” 16”
5 PINTO Edgar W52 / Fc Porto POR 04h17’53” 40”
6 POLANC Jan Uae Team Emirates SLO 04h18’04” 51”
7 MURPHY Kyle Rally Uhc Cycling USA 04h18’11” 58”
8 FINETTO Mauro Delko Marseille Provence ITA 04h18’16” 01’03”
9 VAN EMPEL Etienne Neri Sottoli Selle Italia Ktm NED 04h18’21” 01’08”
10 BRITTON Robert Rally Uhc Cycling CAN 04h18’21” ”
General Classification after stage 5
1 GROSSSCHARTNER Felix Bora – Hansgrohe AUT 20h43’09”
2 CONTI Valerio Uae Team Emirates ITA 20h43’28” 19”
3 KUDUS Merhawi Astana Pro Team ERI 20h43’34” 25”
4 EVENEPOEL Remco Deceuninck – Quick – Step BEL 20h43’50” 41”
5 PINTO Edgar W52 / Fc Porto POR 20h44’08” 59”
6 POLANC Jan Uae Team Emirates SLO 20h44’16” 01’07”
7 FINETTO Mauro Delko Marseille Provence ITA 20h44’28” 01’19”
8 RESTREPO VALENCIA Jhonatan Manzana Postobon Team COL 20h44’35” 01’26”
9 SERRANO RODRIGUEZ Gonzalo Caja Rural – Seguros Rga ESP 20h44’38” 01’29”
10 MURPHY Kyle Rally Uhc Cycling USA 20h44’39” 01’30”
11 VAN EMPEL Etienne Neri Sottoli Selle Italia Ktm NED 20h44’49” 01’40”
12 SIERRA SANCHEZ Yecid Arturo Manzana Postobon Team COL 20h44’49” ”
13 BRITTON Robert Rally Uhc Cycling CAN 20h44’49” ”
14 FERNANDEZ CRUZ Delio Delko Marseille Provence ESP 20h44’55” 01’46”
15 CAPECCHI Eros Deceuninck – Quick – Step ITA 20h44’55” ”
