Cycling world eyes Presidential Tour of Turkey on Sunday


The eighth and the last lap of the Presidential Cycling Tour, which is the biggest cycling race in Turkey, takes place on Sunday on a 190.8-kilometer-long route between Marmaris and Selçuk.On Friday, Tour of Turkey continued with a hard day in the mountains, 116.9 kilometers from Kumluca to Elmalı. The final climb to Elmalı is over 10-kilometers long and has steep sections. Spanish racer Jaime Roson won the sixth lap in the Kumluca to Elmalı stage, in the south Anatolian route.The 52nd Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey has started on April 23 with the first Istanbul-to-Istanbul stage. The riders departed from the Beşiktaş district on the European side and finished in Beykoz on the Asian side via the Bosphorus Bridge. They rode back to the European side to complete the race. Organized traditionally by the Turkish Cycling Federation, the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey started in 1963 as the Marmara Tour and gained an international status for the first time in 1965. Unlike previous years - when the last stage was held in Istanbul - this year the tour has started with the Istanbul stage and will end in western İzmir province's Selçuk district on May 1. By the end of the eight-day race, 128 cyclists will have ridden over 1,250 kilometers in Turkey's Aegean, Mediterranean, and Central Anatolian regions. Two world tour teams, nine professional continent teams and one continent team have participated.The final of Turkish Cycling Tour will be broadcast live on national and international channels in more than 120 countries.