The second summit finish of the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey (Stage 6) brought yet another brilliant 1-2 result for XDS Astana Team. This time it was Harold Martín López who took the stage victory, while race leader Wout Poels followed closely in second place.
López launched his attack with about one kilometer to go, opening a small gap that was enough to secure the win. Wout Poels counterattacked from the group of favorites and crossed the line just three seconds behind his teammate.
“I’m truly happy to take the win today. I worked really hard to get back into form, especially after the crash in Australia at the start of the season, which forced me to take a long break. I’m thankful to the team for the support during that tough time, and I’m glad I was able to return to racing in March at Milan–Turin, then Volta a Catalunya and the Tour of Hellas. Today, our main goal was to defend Wout Poels’ leader’s jersey, and I think the team did everything possible to achieve that. I’m grateful they gave me the freedom to go for the stage win in the final kilometers. It all worked perfectly — I won, and Wout finished second. We’ll enjoy this a little today, but then we’ll refocus to finish the job on Sunday”, – said Harold Martín López.
After Stage 6, Wout Poels retains the overall race lead, with Harold Martín López in second place, 16 seconds behind his teammate. Poels also leads the King of the Mountains classification.
“I think it was a great day, the team controlled the race 100%, both the breakaway and the attacks later on. In the final, we played our cards again: this time Harold went, and he got the win, while I kept the leader’s jersey. The whole team is in great shape, and there’s a fantastic atmosphere and understanding among us. It’s nice to reflect that in our results. I’m happy with how things went, but we won’t relax having two more stages to go”, – added Wout Poels.
