The 58th edition of the Tour of Türkiye (UCI 2.1) started in Alanya, on the doorstep of our friends from Corendon. All the more reason for Frenchman Léo Bouvier to give it his all in the final bunch sprint against none other than Jasper Philipsen. Despite a crash that stopped Léo just before the finale, he finished the stage in the top 10. An impressive start.
BIKE AID's engine seemed to have no problems getting started and after a strong performance in the group of the day, it was Wesley Mol who was in the spotlight on the second stage. The commentators seemed clearly impressed by the Dutchman, who was able to secure the white jersey of the "Treasures of Turkey sprint classification“. Team BIKE AID was on everybody's lips after just two days.
With probably the toughest climb in professional cycling, the third stage was set to be another tough one. With 18 kilometres and an average gradient of more than 10%, the HC mountain Babadag is a scary enemy. However, Dawit Yemane was visibly unimpressed by this and put an exclamation mark on his rivals for the overall classification with his 12th place.
The entire team BIKE AID also showed its very best on the following stages. Stagiaire Simon Baran sprinted into the top 15, Léo Bouvier and Oli Mattheis diligently collected points in the intermediate classifications and in particular newcomer Anton Schiffer, from the team's own development team, caused quite a stir on the climbs. The young rider from Cologne left world-class climbers behind and showed his talent on several occasions.
After another strong performance in the group of the day, Dawit was also able to slip on the white jersey. The Eritrean spent the last hour of the race together with none other than Jay Vine. The jersey of the team from Saarland could be seen all over the world and the commentators' enthusiasm was endless. What a performance!
After eight days and 1235 kilometres, an impressive team performance was crowned by Dawit's 12th place in the general classification. A result that reflected the mutual sacrifice of each rider for one another and showed that the boys can also keep up with the big WorldTour riders.
At least as important for BIKE AID was their presence in the international broadcasts. Whether it was Eurosport, GCN or Turkish national television, Team BIKE AID drew attention to themselves every day and became a continuous topic of conversation.
A great race and an equally great end to the season, which gives confidence for 2024.
Photos of BIKE AID and Tour of Türkiye
