Danny van Poppel loses victory in Tour of Turkey, after declassification Giovanni Lonardi cheers

The third stage of the Tour of Turkey was won by Giovanni Lonardi. The Italian from Team Polti-Kometa crossed the line second in the finishing town of Marmaris, but was ultimately declared the winner. Danny van Poppel was declassified after what the jury considered to be an irregular sprint.

In the Tour of Turkey, the third stage between Fethiye and Marmaris (147.4 kilometers) was on the program today. There were two short climbs in the final. The last climb was not to be underestimated, with a length of 1.3 kilometers and an average of 7.3%. Once at the top of this slope, it was still twelve kilometers to the finish. Could a puncheur make the difference here or was it not difficult enough to prevent a bunch sprint?

Four riders on the attack
After 25 kilometers of racing we could already note several attack attempts, but the peloton was still together. In short, the flight of the day had to wait a while, but in the end four riders were given a free path. Filippo Conca (Q36.5), Willie Smit (China Glory), Antoine Berlin (Bike Aid) and Konrad Czabok (Mazowsze Serce Polski) were the names. These four riders quickly built up a lead of more than two minutes.

However, this turned out not to be enough to stay out of the peloton’s grasp. Alpecin-Deceuninck and BORA-hansgrohe clearly had different plans and, working together, managed to further reduce the difference. Berlin, Smit, Conca and Czabok started the first categorized climb of the day with less than a minute’s lead, just 35 kilometers from the finish. On the flanks of this slope, several riders tried to cross to the leading group.

Conca continues alone, several counter attacks
Speaking of the leading group: it also completely shattered towards the top. Conca turned out to have the strongest climbing legs, so he left his fellow escapees on the spot and was the first to reach the top. The Italian saw no reason to hold back and continued alone, towards the second and last climb on the route. However, Conca was closely followed by his compatriot Samuele Zoccarato – who had broken away from the peloton – and Berlin, who in turn was able to join his wagon.

First pursuers Zoccarato and Berlin were joined by three other counterattackers in the flatter intermediate phase between the two climbs, with Lennert Teugels, Burak Abay and Ryan Cavanagh. However, the (now) five pursuers failed to close the last gap on the strong Conca, who seemed to be the first to start the final climb. Only: due to an acceleration in the peloton, everything came together again, just before the foot of the climb.

Van Poppel cheers, but does not win after chaotic final
Despite a few accelerations on the final climb, we traveled with a large group to the finishing town of Marmaris. Most sprinters managed to hoist themselves over the last judge and so we could prepare for a clash between the fast men. Several riders tried to play for surprise in the final kilometers, but were given little or no room. A sprint turned out to be unavoidable, also because BORA-hansgrohe and Astana Qazaqstan managed to get their sprint trains on track.

However, no team managed to gain the upper hand in a very chaotic and at times dangerous final. In the last kilometer, Alpecin-Pimapen managed to come forward at the right time, but Danny van Poppel – in the absence of his teammate Welsford – had the last word. The Dutchman attacked powerfully and managed to keep Giovanni Lonardi at bay, although he seemed to deviate from his line somewhat. That was the opinion of Lonardi, who made quite a commotion when crossing the finish line.

And the jury came to the same conclusion after viewing the images and so Van Poppel was declassified. Lonardi moved up one place and was honored on the podium as stage winner. Another Italian, Enrico Zanoncello, came second. Max Kanter, Monday’s stage winner, finished third. Lonardi is now in the lead in the general classification, followed by Zanoncello and Henri Uhlig.