KADEN AFTER CALEB, TT’S AUSTRALIA AGAIN!
Australia’s Kaden Groves claimed his first ever stage win at the Presidential Tour of Türkiye, emulating his compatriot Caleb Ewan who was the victor of the inaugural stage. The Team BikeExchange-Jayco sprinter was the fastest in Alaçati with Jasper Philipsen finishing second for the second day in a row and Sam Bennett closing in third.
Stage 2 started from the archeological site of Ephesus in Selçuk. It took fifteen kilometers for the breakaway of the day to take shape. Eight riders went clear: Jon Barrenetxea (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Peio Goikoetxea (Euskaltel), Angel Fuentes (Burgos BH), Julian Lino (BikeAid), Noah Granigan (Wildlife Generation), Cristian Raileanu (Sakarya BB), Oleksandr Prevar (Spor Toto) and Nicolas Sessler (Global 6). Barrenetxea won the Sprint Prime at km 37.2. Granigan won the Treasures of Türkiye Sprint at km 91.1. Theu never got much freedom as the teams of the sprinters kept them on a leash with no more than two and half minutes between them.
Logically, Belgian squads Lotto-Soudal and Alpecin-Fenix, representing Caleb Ewan and Jasper Philipsen who came first and second on Stage 1, paced the peloton for most of the race. Granigan also won the only KOM of the day in a two-man sprint with Barrenetxea with 38km to go. Taking advantage of the crosswinds, Team BikeExchange-Jayco put the hammer down after a crash involving GC favourites Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) and Jay Vine (Alpecin-Fenix) up the hill. It generated the return of the peloton but Goikoetxea refused to surrender. He passed the 30km to go mark 20’’ ahead of the bunch.
Goikoetxea got caught 27km before the end. Crosswinds and small climbs made the finale very challenging. White jersey holder Vitaliy Buts of Sakarya BB rode away from the pack with 23km to go and bravely remained ahead of the chasing peloton for 5km. Before the inevitable bunch sprint finish, Quintana crashed with a little more than 3km to go. Team BikeEchange-Jayco prepared the sprint at perfection and was rewarded by Groves finishing it off in style.
Groves moved into the lead of the general classification with an advantage of 2’’ over Philipsen and 4’’ over Ewan who was fifth on the line this time. Stage 3 will take the riders from Çesme to Izmir (121.8km).