The 48th Presidential Tour of Turkey has something new in store for 2012.
From 22 to 29 of April, the Turkish UCI 2.HC race will follow most of its route in the other way round compared to the previous editions. There will be an uphill finish for the first time and an even more attractive start list than usual.
“We always listen to teams and riders”, noted race director Abdurrahman Açikalin. “We do our best to put together a program that suits their wishes. For sure the 2012 Presidential Tour of Turkey will be an historical one.”
Since 2008, the race kicked off from Istanbul and finished in Alanya. For several reasons, the course will take the riders from Alanya to Istanbul this time around. Istanbul is the European capital of sport in 2012.
“We want to highlight cycling in Alanya for a few days”, Açikalin explained. “We’ll organize a very nice teams’ presentation in the center of town. People from Alanya will be able to hang out with top professional cyclists and get to understand more about this sport which is rapidly growing in Turkey these days. The Presidential Tour of Turkey is part of a huge project for the development of cycling in our country.”
In the region of four years, the Turkish cycling community has created seven international races of four days at category 2 level. Two continental teams have been created: Salcano-Arnavutkoy and Konya-Torku Seker Spor. For the first time since 1976 in Montreal, Turkey will compete in cycling at the Olympic Games in London with three riders hailing from mountain biking.
“Following the start in Alanya, we’ll head towards some of the traditional stage finishes in Marmaris and Kusadasi”, Açikalin detailed. “But we’ve also followed the request of the teams’ directors who asked us to come up with an uphill stage finish. Stage 3 from Tekirova to Elmali will make the Presidential Tour of Turkey very attractive. The end of the stage will be at an altitude of 1850 meters. It’s a difficult climb, pretty similar to L’Alpe d’Huez.”
Another record will be set this year with the maximum number of 200 participants and 25 teams lining up. Eight World Tour teams will be present alongside fifteen Pro Continental teams and the two Turkish continental teams.
The participating teams at the 2012 Presidential Tour of Turkey: Ag2r-La Mondiale, Astana, Greenedge, Katusha, Lampre-ISD, Lotto-Belisol, Omega Pharma-Quick Step, Saxo Bank, Accent Jobs-Veranda Willems, Andalucia,
Bretagne-Schüller, Caja Rural, Colnago-CSF Inox, Colombia-Coldeportes, Europcar, Farnese Vini-Italia, Project 1t4i, Rusvelo, Spidertech, Team NetApp, Team Type 1, UnitedHealthcare, Utensilnord-Named, Salcano-Arnavutkoy and Konya-Torku Seker Spor.
The 2012 Présidential Tour of Turkey stages:
Stage 1: Alanya-Alanya 148 km
Stage 2: Alanya-Kemer 185 km
Stage 3: Tekirova-Elmali 148 km
Stage 4: Fethiye-Marmaris 130 km
Stage 5: Marmaris-Turgutreis 170 km
Stage 6: Bodrum-Kusadasi 181 km
Stage 7: Ephesus-Izmir 118 km
Stage 8: Istanbul (Europe to Asia) 114 km