Alexey Lutsenko wins Tour of Turkey
Astana Qazaqstan Team has successfully accomplished its mission at the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey, taking the victory in the final General Classification of the race. After taking the leader jersey on Stage 3 atop Babadag, the Kazakh champion Alexey Lutsenko was able to protect it during the next five days, getting a nice triumph in historical city center of Istanbul.
“I am super happy with this win! It was not easy to protect the jersey during almost the whole week, but I had a great team next to me and with these guys everything became possible. The Babadag stage was a brutal one, and I am happy and proud I could win it. Then, during the next days together with the team we did all possible to defend our lead and to take this win. This is the nicest end of the season for the team but also for me. It is cool to finish a tough season with this success. Some years ago, I was close to a win here in Turkey, but finished second. Coming here this year I was super motivated to do it better, I was focusing on the result, I got a top form for and after the Asian Games and together with my teammates we finally won it”, – said Alexey Lutsenko.
“I think this is a very beautiful end of the season for our team. The calendar we have prepared for Alexey worked quite perfectly. He couldn’t reach the goals we set for him in the start of the season due to sickness and other things, while now he was able to find his best form and to perform on the highest level at the Asian Games and here at the Tour of Turkey. Also, with this win Kazakhstan got important points in the Olympic ranking, taking two out of four licenses for the Olympic Games in Paris. This is a very important point for us, and we are happy with it. Of course, it wouldn’t be possible without support of all our partners, especially Samruk-Kazyna and the foundation SportQory”, – said Alexandr Vinokurov, General Manager of Astana Qazaqstan Team.
Also, Harold Tejada, who was third atop Babadag, kept his third place to the end, taking his first ever podium as a pro rider.
In the last stage in Istanbul Astana’s sprinter Cees Bol once again took a podium place, finishing second in a bunch sprint. This is his fourth podium place in this edition of the Tour of Turkey.
Photo credit: @SprintCycling