Riders to watch at the Tour of Türkiye
One of the most diverse high-level races on the calendar returns.
There are several storylines to be written at the 2024 Tour of Türkiye. Mark Cavendish’s return from illness on his way to the Tour de France is certainly among them.
The race begins on Sunday and has its usual mix of big sprints, punchy finishes and jaunts into the Turkish mountains. It’s often a race that springs a surprise and create new opportunities.
Türkiye is seeing something of a cycling boom at the moment, with a thriving domestic scene and new races appearing on the calendar all the time.
The race is a chance for the best Turkish talent to present itself to the world. The level of the riders in Türkiye has risen in the last few years - as Beykoz rider Max Stedman told Global Peloton last year.
Progress seems slow, however. There is a glut of .2 UCI races that take place across the nation, but almost all are won by riders from elsewhere who are making a career at the continental level in Türkiye.
The last Turkish stage winner at the Tour of Türkiye was Berat Alphan way back in 2005 when the race was at 2.2 level - not counting the now scrubbed-out victory of Mustafa Sayar in 2013, who was banned for EPO use shortly after. It’s difficult to see that changing over the next week.
Several younger talents are now coming through now who could progress into decent riders over the next few years. Can they seize the opportunity this week? We will soon find out.
There are lots of interesting riders to look out for at the 2024 Tour of Türkiye from all around the world. Here’s Global Peloton’s riders to watch at the race, starting with a few home riders.
Ahmet Örken
Turkey, Spor Toto
Now 31, Ahmet Örken has been among the best Turkish riders for many years, and is one of the few to have raced for overseas teams recently. As quick sprinter, he has an impressive 36 UCI wins to his name, but has never won at this race.
I want to say that Örken is their best chance of winning a stage in this race, but in reality, the chance of any win for a Turkish rider is miniscule. Örken just won’t be able to contend with the likes of Sam Welsford, Mark Cavendish, Fabio Jakobsen and Orluis Aular on the quick days.
Burak Abay
Turkey, Sakarya BB Pro Team
Current Turkish national champion Burak Abay is a man for the breakaways at the Tour of Türkiye. He has previous form, having been active in last year’s race.
Abay had a solid season last year, picking up several top-10s in Turkish stage races and one-day events in addition to his national championship win. He comes into his fourth Tour of Türkiye as the leader of the long-standing Sakarya team and will hope to get up the road as much as possible.
Samet Bulut
Turkey, Beykoz Belediyesi Spor Türkiye
Possibly the best young talent from Türkiye at the moment. Samet Bulut rides for the powerful Beykoz team, who will hope to punch above their weight this week.
21-year-old Bulut has good form at the moment, having finished 11th overall at the recent Tour of Mersin. As a climber, he will hope to impress on the tougher stages 2, 4 and 6.
This race is all about progression for Bulut. It’s the one chance all year he will get to compare himself against a raft of decent professionals.
Of the other Turkish riders present, Serdar Depe, Batuhan Özgür, Ramazan Yilmaz, Mustafa Tarakci and Halil Dogan are also worth keeping an eye on
Vadim Pronskiy
Kazakhstan, Astana Qazaqstan
The slight Kazakh climber’s career has been an inconsistent one so far. It once seemed as though he would be the natural successor to Alexey Lutsenko’s throne as Astana Qazaqstan’s next homegrown climbing leader. A winner in the prestigious Valle d’Aosta under 23 race as 20-year-old was backed up by podiums in the Tour of Langkawi and Adriatica Ionica Race as a young pro, but he’s yet to crack it at the top level.
Now 25, the 2024 Tour of Türkiye provides a perfect opportunity to remind us how good he is. He will lead the team’s GC ambitions this week and if he’s at his best, he’ll be among the favourites to win.
Petros Mengs
Eritrea, Beykoz Belediyesi Spor Türkiye
Petros Mengs is the youngest and least known of the six Eritreans at this year’s race. The 22-year-old burst onto the scene last year by winning the inaugural 100th Anniversary Tour of The Republic 5-day race in August - his first ever stage race. He went on to have a solid rest of the season, mostly in the service of his more senior Beykoz team-mates.
Mengs will work alongside his experienced compatriot Natnael Berhane, who Beykoz will have to rely on for a good GC result after Max Stedman fractured a collarbone at the Tour of Taiwan in March. Berhane is now 33, but the rider who finished second at this race eleven years ago is going well so far this year and has every chance of springing a surprise.
Binyan Ma
China, China Glory-Mentech
If you’re looking for a rider who could upset the big boys this week, this could be your man. Chinese sprinter Binyan Ma is rapid and might just get on the podium on a flat day with some luch. Ma has already finished top-10 in WorldTour sprints at last year’s Tour of Guangxi and has two sprint wins already this year.
Ma will be supported by the experience of Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg, Lucas De Rossi and Willy Smit. He can also call on the speed of his compatriot Li Zhen, who is emerging as a good young talent.
For the tougher days, China Glory-Mentech will be riding for Asian continental mountain bike champion Xianjing Lyu. Lyu was 5th at the recent Tour of Mersin and will look to target the intermediate days. The 26-year-old is talented and progressing fast. The punchy 2nd and 4th stages look good for him.
Negasi Abreha
Ethiopia, Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team
Ethiopian Negasi Abreha’s progression since turning professional as the only African professional rider on the Q36.5 team has been steady, if unspectacular.
Now 23, Abreha was good as an under-23 rider, finishing 14th in the 2022 Giro Next Gen and 16th in the 2.1 Adriatica Ionica Race the same year. Since moving up to the pros, he’s ridden almost exclusively as a domestique for Q36.5’s leaders. It will probably be the same story at the Tour of Türkiye, with Mark Donovan having a good top-10 chance overall.
If he does get a chance in Türkiye, the wider roads and weaker overall peloton could give him a good chance of featuring on the hilly days.
If you want to know a bit more about Abreha’s background, read this excellent story from Rouleur.
Jambaljamts Sainbayar
Mongolia, Burgos BH
It’s been a solid start to pro life for Mongolia’s first rider at that level. Good rides at the Tours of Sharjah and Taiwan were followed up by Sainbayar making history as the first ever Mongolian to ride a WorldTour race at the Volta Catalunya.
In truth, Sainbayar hasn’t yet set the world alight, but there is time. This week, he will likely be in support of the flying man from Monaco, Victor Langellotti, who has a very good chance at a top-5 in this race.
Perhaps surprisingly, this is Sainbayar’s first time at the Tour of Türkiye. He will be focussed on his role as Langellotti’s main helper this week and could even get involved in the lead-outs for George Jackson.
Dawit Yemane
Eritrea, Bike Aid
As I’ve said before, I believe that Dawit is the best continental-level climber in the world. The 26-year-old is very impressive going uphill, it’s thought that it’s his bike-handling skills which have prevented him from better results so far in his career.
Yemane showed his climbing prowess at this race last year. He was out of position and missed the peloton split on the run-in to the instantly mythical Badabag mountain top finish on stage 3. Yemane produced one of the quickest times up the climb to catch and pass much of the front group and eventually finish the stage in 12th.
He’s on form, having won stage one and finished third overall at the recent Tour of Mersin. If Yemane can stay high up in the GC on the opening stages, he will be a big threat on the queen stage.
Aiman Rosli
Malaysia, Terengganu
Aiman Rosli took an impressive stage win at the recent Tour of Thailand, holding off the bunch solo to take stage two by ten seconds. The Malaysian time-trial champion is part of a strong Terengganu team for this race and can be expected to feature in the breakaways.
The team will rely on experienced Eritrean Merhawi Kudus and Ukrainian pocket rocket Antolii Budiak on the climbing days. Algeria’s Youcef Reguigui is expected to be the team’s sprinter.
Daiki Magosaki
Japan, Kinan Racing Team
It’s good to see the Japanese Kinan team expanding their race programme. They’ve already raced in Türkiye and New Zealand this season.
27-year-old Daiki Magosaki is a solid rider for them. He’s a sprinter, but is not top of the pecking order at Kinan. That honour falls to dutchman Raymond Kreder - expect to see Magosaki leading him out this week. This is Magosaki’s first season racing extensively outside of the Asia Tour and this is by far the biggest race he has ever competed in.
Kinan also have Yudai Arashiro and Genki Yamamoto who will try their hands in the breakaway this week.
Who do you think will perform best this week?
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