Max Stedman on what it's like racing in Turkey
Brit talks about his successful few months in Turkey and what the racing is like + a little insight into Babadag
British rider Max Stedman has spent the last few months racing for Turkish continental team Beykoz Belediyesi Spor Kulübü.
He’s currently racing the Tour of Türkiye. It’s a big opportunity for him to secure the pro contract which he has dreamed about for years. I wrote up the full story of how Stedman’s career took him to Turkey for Write, Bike, Repeat. (Go and read the full article, and while you’re there, subscribe to WBR to see more of Katy’s writing, it’s great - also I’ll pop up there from time to time)
In our interview, Stedman went in depth on what it’s like to race the domestic scene in Turkey. The Bristolian has spent almost his entire career competing in the UK. The mountains of Turkey have been another world altogether for him.
As a lightweight climber, the big ascents are what Stedman enjoys most, but there was one thing that has made the climbs extra challenging.
“It's the altitude and the heat that's been hard,” Stedman said. “The races are all above like 1300 metres. Even though it's not super high it affects you enough. When you're doing these flatter races, but they're at 1300 metres, it's a weird experience. It’s not like you're going into a valley and you can sort of catch your breath, you're just stuck with this altitude the whole time. So it makes it tough.”
Tough, but clearly not too tough for Stedman. Since arriving in Turkey, the 27-year-old has notched up four wins, including the overall in the Tour of Yigido.
He’s had to adapt his style of racing a bit over the past few months. He won Yigido with a long-distance solo attack, eventually putting 3.34 into his nearest rivals. He said that it was the most aggressively he’s ever ridden, but the racing style in Turkey made it necessary.
“The racing is just completely uncontrolled, so I guess in a way it's not much different to UK racing. It's just hard when you're in a five day stage race and it's day four and it's like, right well, we’ve just got to attack because as soon as a group of six or something goes up the road that's race over, that's not coming back. So you need to be on it completely,” Stedman said.
As you might expect, in a nation where the sport cycling is developing, the level of the riders is a bit of a mixed bag. However, Stedman has been impressed by his own team.
He’s racing alongside Eritrean Natnael Berhane, who has also helped the team recruit a young Eritrean prospect in Petros Mengse, winner of this year’s 100th Anniversary Tour of The Republic. The team also includes young Turkish riders Halil Dogan and Muhammed Erkan who are improving in that environment.
“It's a fairly good level. It's not UK standard, that's for sure. I don't know where it sits in comparison to the rest of Europe, I'd say it's pretty good. They've got a few strong riders. There's not that many strong teams, the depth isn't massive. So that means it's the same faces at every race that we need to look at.”
One peculiar element to cycling in Turkey this year has been the vast number of new UCI races. The first three stage races that Stedman rode were the inaugural editions. There’s a good reason for it, Stedman says, and it’s something we’ve seen across quite a few countries this year.
“This year is Olympic qualification, isn't it? Every country is trying to get a rider into the Olympics, which is obviously massive. So everyone puts on UCI races to try and do that. It's the same with the Tour of Mauritius. There has always been a Tour of Mauritius, but it wasn't in the UCI. It was UCI this year, probably for the simple fact that they needed to get some some more UCI points.”
At the Tour of Türkiye, Stedman currently sits in 21st on GC after four stages. On the descent before the instantly legendary Babadag finish on stage three, he missed a split, eventually finishing just under ten minutes down on Alexey Lutsenko.
“I had to get a bottle…and someone let the wheel go…I never saw the front again,” Stedman told me in a message after the stage. “I reckon maybe top 15 possible if I didn’t have this problem but it is what it is. I’d say the next days suit me better.”
“That climb was silly,” he added.
That stage also saw an incredible climbing performance by Bike Aid’s Eritrean Dawit Yemane, who missed the split of about thirty riders alongside Stedman.
Yemane picked riders off one-by-one to finish 12th on the stage, 5:18 down.
Cycling in Turkey has a long way to come in terms of creating meaningful talent. But with the amount of UCI racing and the level of international talent that the continental teams are attracting, it won’t be long until we see someone emerge.
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