JASPER PHILIPSEN MOVES UP TO TOP SPOT

After two second places behind Australians Caleb Ewan and Kaden Groves, Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Fenix moved up to first and took the lead in the overall ranking while Groves and Spanish sensation Miguel Fernandez of Global 6 Cycling rounded out the stage podium.

Six riders managed to escape from the peloton ten kilometres after the start from Çesme: Peio Goikoetxea (Euskaltel), Umberto Poli (Novo Nordisk), Léo Bouvier (BikeAid), Vitaliy Buts (Sakarya BB), Noah Granigan and Scott McGill (Wildlife Generation). Respectively wearing the white and red jersey, Buts and McGill were pursuing their goals located in the early part of the relatively short stage to Izmir.

Buts took the lead of the Treasures of Türkiye sprints again as he passed the line of km 17 in second place behind McGill but ahead of Granigan, whereas Granigan extended his lead in the KOM classification as he crested the cat. 3 climb at km 27.5 in first position before McGill and Buts.

Buts awaited the peloton after that effort in order to save energy for the coming days. The peloton kept the remaining five escapees on a leash with a difference of only 1’20’’ at km 40, 1’05’’ with 48km to go, which was at the approach of the final hour of racing. 20km before the line, Goikoetxea slipped in a curve. It disorganised the breakaway, so that only Bouvier and McGill managed to stay at the front until they got reeled in 15km before the end.

In the last 10km, local hero Ahmet Örken bravely went solo in the streets of Izmir. He was brought back with 5km to go. Ewan crashed in the last curve and Philipsen overhauled Groves at the eleventh hour to take his first victory at the Presidential Tour of Türkiye this year along with the turquoise jersey.

The Belgian who discovered the TUR last year with two bunch sprint victories at Marmaris and Turgutreis expects to pass the lead in the overall classification to his team-mate Jay Vine at the end of Stage 4 to Spill, which is the queen stage of the 57th Presidential Tour of Türkiye.