Tobias Lund Andresen takes the lead-out for Fabio Jakobsen, but wins himself in the Tour of Turkey

Tobias Lund Andresen has won the fifth stage of the Tour of Turkey. The rider from DSM-Firmenich PostNL was the fastest in a chaotic bunch sprint. Fabio Jakobsen, who saw his teammate and let him win, and Iúri Leitão finished second and third. Lund Andresen naturally remains the leader in the general classification.

Sprinting had already been going on for a number of days in the Tour of Turkey and stage five was no different. The start was in Bodrum, where Tobias Lund Andresen gave dsm-firmenich PostNL the victory on Wednesday. The finish line of the mainly flat fifth stage was almost 180 kilometers later in Kusadasi.

The ride was colored by an early breakaway of seven riders. Mauro Verwilt (Tarteletto-Isorex) provided Belgian input. Antonio Polga (Novo Nordisk), Oliver Mattheis (BIKE AID), Jacob Scott (REMBE Team Sauerland), Genki Yamamoto (Kinan), Michal Pomorski and Konrad Czabok (both Mazowsze Serce Polski) were also present.

Control of sprinter teams
The seven attackers were never given much space from the peloton. This was mainly due to Astana Qazaqstan and BORA-hansgrohe, who wanted to put their sprinters into action. Just like in the previous stages, it took a while before the peloton caught up with the attackers again. At fifteen kilometers from the finish, the lead of the last remaining escapees – Verwilt, Scott, Mattheis and Czabok – was still one minute.

Mattheis was the last escapee who was caught five kilometers from the finish. This was done by the men of Polti Kometa, who increased the pace on a few false flat stretches. They clearly wanted to wear down the pure sprinters in the hope that their fast man Giovanni Lonardi could win again. What followed were chaotic last kilometers.

DSM-Firmenich celebrates again
In the dangerously strange final kilometer it was Danny van Poppel who was the first to attack. The Dutchman tried from very far and got Martijn Budding from TDT-Unibet in his wheel, but the two did not last. It was Lund Andresen, with Jakobsen in his wheel, who came out well. The Dane took the lead-out for Jakobsen, but Jakobsen kept his legs still in the closing meters. That is why Andresen was able to win for the second day in a row in the Tour of Turkey. He therefore remains the leader in the general classification.