Stanisław Aniołkowski got it right at the line, winning Stage 4 of the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkiye after a messy, stretched-out run into Fethiye, with Victoria’s Riley Pickrell right there but a wheel short.
The day began with a six-man break getting clear. That forced the big teams to work, and the rolling run toward the coast kept things tense even after it was brought back. By the final kilometres, the peloton was strung out and uneasy. Then things got a bit hairy.
The sprint didn’t settle much. Fernando Gaviria went early, the timing off, and the road opened in pieces rather than one clean line. Aniołkowski found a gap and committed.
Pickrell, who rides for George Hincapie’s new team, Modern Adventure Cycling, ame through behind him. And just missed out on the win. But he was happy with the way things worked out.
“I had a good clean run,” Pickrell said. “Coming into the finale we had the whole team lined out, holding me in great position and just letting me relax before such a chaotic finish.”
It was close, close enough to see it, not quite enough to get there.
“My teammate Mark Stewart and I wanted to leave it late because of the cross-headwind from the right, and when the road opened up I had a good clean run,” he said. “I can’t thank the team enough.”
Toronto’s Noah Ramsay, back racing after his crash at Étoile de Bessèges, finished 21st for Alpecin-Premier Tech.
Stage 3 is probably not going to be the day for another result for Pickrell, however. That being said, it’s clear he will get that big dub one of these days. But Thursday is a very lumpy 180.7-km day from Patara to Kemer.
Currently, Iván Ramiro Sosa (Equipo Kern Pharma) leads the overall. With the win, however, Pickrell moves up to 7th in the points. Ramsay sits a respectable 19th overall in the GC.
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