55th PRESIDENTIAL CYCLING TOUR OF TURKEY WILL BE HELD ON ITS RENEWED ROUTE BETWEEN 16-21 APRIL 2019

55th PRESIDENTIAL CYCLING TOUR OF TURKEY WILL BE HELD ON ITS RENEWED ROUTE BETWEEN 16-21 APRIL 2019 STARTED AS “TOUR OF MARMARA” IN 1963, 55th EDITION OF THE TOUR WILL FOLLOW A SIMILAR ROUTE TO ITS FIRST EDITON PRESIDENT OF THE TURKISH CYCLING FEDERATION, MR. KÜÇÜKBAKIRCI: “WE DECIDED TO MOVE THIS GREAT CYCLING EVENT TO THE DIFFERENT REGIONS OF OUR COUNTRY”
As one of Turkey's most prestigious worldwide sporting events, 55th edition of the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey will make a “brand new start” this year with the novelties on its renewed route and its new slot in April on “UCI World Tour” calendar.
Traditionally held by the Turkish Cycling Federation (TBF) since 1963, the Tour will be held between 16-21 April 2019 as a part of the “UCI World Tour” calendar for the third time yet this year it will welcome cycling fans on its “nostalgic” route.
The Tour, which commenced in 1963 under the name of “Tour of Marmara” gained international status in 1965 and was held under the auspices of the Presidency for the first time in 1966. In its 55th edition, Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey will be held on a route that is similar to its former route followed in the first edition, around the Marmara Sea.
President of the Turkish Cycling Federation, Erol Küçükbakırcı stated that the new date and renewed route will render the Tour more appealing. Mr. Küçükbakırcı added that after a break of two years we are back with a race which can be considered as mid-season as announced in the UCI approved 2019 World Tour Calendar. “At the end of the season the teams and the riders were quite tired” he said and stated that with the date change, we aim for higher quality and a higher participation rate.
The Federation President Mr. Küçükbakırcı pointed out that in recent years most of the stages in the Tour are used to be organized along the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts, but following the strong demand from various provinces of Turkey

they decided to move the race to different parts of the country in order to promote historical and natural richness of these regions through cycling. He also announced that to realize this new practice in the next year, the organization will be held in the Marmara region in 2019.

President Erol Küçükbakırcı continued as follows: “Our tour was used to be held in different regions in previous years. We would like to bring this back. We would like to extend this great cycling event all over the country. As in the first edition of the Tour, we set a “nostalgic” route for 2019 that is quite similar to the “Tour of Marmara”. Teams departing from İstanbul will head towards Tekirdağ, Eceabat, Çanakkale, Edremit, Balıkesir, Bursa, Sakarya and will see the ultimate finish again in İstanbul. In the forthcoming years, we are working on a route that will cross our
Black Sea region and finish in the capital, Ankara.”
Comprising from 6 new stages, the Tour 2019 will be held along a route that is over
a thousand kilometers on which ace riders and famous teams will pedal once again.
Stages of the Tour 2019 are determined as following:

STAGES OF THE TOUR 2019
16 April: İstanbul – Tekirdağ 
17 April: Tekirdağ – Eceabat 
18 April: Çanakkale – Edremit 
19 April: Balıkesir – Bursa 
20 April: Bursa – Kartepe 
21 April: Sakarya – İstanbul