Denmark’s Tobias Lund Andresen (DSM) continued with the state of grace scoring the second consecutive sprint victory in the fifth stage of the Tour of Turkey contested between Bodrum and Kuşadası, 177.9 kilometers, thus reinforcing the blue leader’s jersey.
Unassailable the rider from Taastrup, 21 years old, pure power on the finishing straight, where he exhibited for the second consecutive day, this time with a time of 4h.18.11, at an average of 41.3 km/hour, ahead of his Dutch teammate Fabio Jakobsen and the Portuguese Caja Rural Seguros RGA rider Iuri Leitao.
A victory, the second in his palmares, which allowed Andresen to boost his lead with the 10-second bonus. He is now 14 seconds ahead of Italy’s Giovanni Leonardi (Polti Kometa) and Germany’s Henri Uhlig (Alpecin Deceuninck).
A stage written with the script of a consented breakaway with 7 riders in advance that did not represent any danger for the general classification, so the peloton decided to keep them in range to catch them near the finish line, where the sprint was scheduled.
Of the seven brave riders, the last survivors were Germany’s Mattheis and Poland’s Czabok, who opened up a gap 25 km from the finish, when the big group was threatening at 1.30 minutes.
The advanced duo was later joined by the American Scott and Verwitt, with more hope than chance of success. The German tried the impossible by jumping 9 km from the last line, but it was too late. The peloton cancelled the adventure with 6 km to go.
Bora set up their men with Van Poppel in mind, the Dutchman frustrated after several days of drought. The Alpecin was looking for Uhlig’s place, but Andresen took the lead again to move ahead until he raised his arms again. Another victory for the Nordic cyclist in his fantastic week, and for his team, which does not stop having joys.
This Friday the sixth stage will take place between Kuşadası and Manisa, with a distance of 160.1 km. Key day with the high finish of Spil Dagi (1st, 14 km at 7.1 percent). The overall candidates have an important appointment.
Results Stage 5 | Bodrum – Kuşadası (177,9 km)
| 1 | Tobias Lund Andresen | Team dsm-firmenich PostNL | 4:18:12 |
| 2 | Fabio Jakobsen | Team dsm-firmenich PostNL | ,, |
| 3 | Iúri Leitão | Caja Rural – Seguros RGA | ,, |
| 4 | Martijn Budding | TDT – Unibet Cycling Team | ,, |
| 5 | Jensen Plowright | Alpecin – Deceuninck | ,, |
| 6 | Reinardt Janse van Rensburg | China Glory – Mentech Continental Cycling Team | ,, |
| 7 | Giovanni Lonardi | Team Polti Kometa | ,, |
| 8 | Danny van Poppel | BORA – hansgrohe | ,, |
| 9 | Andrea Peron | Team Novo Nordisk | ,, |
| 10 | Rory Townsend | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | ,, |
Ranking General
| 1 | Tobias Lund Andresen | Team dsm-firmenich PostNL | 18:51:57 |
| 2 | Giovanni Lonardi | Team Polti Kometa | 0:14 |
| 3 | Henri Uhlig | Alpecin – Deceuninck | ,, |
| 4 | Danny van Poppel | BORA – hansgrohe | 0:18 |
| 5 | Filippo Conca | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | 0:21 |
| 6 | David Lozano | Team Novo Nordisk | ,, |
| 7 | Tomasz Budziński | Mazowsze Serce Polski | 0:22 |
| 8 | Willie Smit | China Glory – Mentech Continental Cycling Team | 0:23 |
| 9 | Manuele Tarozzi | VF Group – Bardiani CSF – Faizanè | ,, |
| 10 | Merhawi Kudus | Terengganu Cycling Team | 0:24 |
Source: Diario AS