CAJA RURAL DOMINATE IN THE MOUNTAINS: WIN TO ROSÓN, LEAD TO GONÇALVES
Niemiec (LAM) takes mountains jersey, BIlbao (CJR) no longer in contention 

Kumluca, Friday 29 April 2016 – Jaime Rosón (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA) today won stage 6, the Türk Hava Yolları Kumluca - Elmalı Stage, of the the 52nd Presidential Tour of Turkey. At the end of a short but demanding mountain stage with two major categorised climbs, Roséon narrowly beat Stage 1 winner and former race leader PrzemysÅ‚aw Niemiec (Lampre – Merida), with another Polish rider, Pawel Cieslik (Verva Activejet) in third place. 

Niemiec took the lead in the Turkish Airlines Red Jersey competition for the King of the Mountains. 

Sixth in the stage was José Gonçalves (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA). Second placed overall this morning, Gonçalves took the SporToto Turquoise Jersey of the race leader on the post-stage podium. The former race leader, his team-mate Pello Bilbao, suffered a loss of form today and dropped out of contention for overall victory. 

Gonçalves also took the Salcano Green Jersey as the new leader of the sprints competition. 

To download full official results, please click here - SCARICA tutte le classifiche ufficiali.

Jaime Rosón wins Stage 6 in the moutnins above Elmalı today
(Click through for Hi Res. Photo credit: Tour of Turkey/Brian Hodes)

Stage 6 result
1. Jaime Rosón (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA), 116.9 km in 3h22'16", ave. 34.68km/h
2. PrzemysÅ‚aw Niemiec (Lampre – Merida) at 2"
3. Pawel Cieslik (Verve Activejet) at 12"

GC standings post-Stage 6
1. José Gonçalves (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA)
2.David Arroyo (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA) @ 18" 
3. Nikita Stalnov (Astana City) at 46"

(Click through for Hi Res. Photo credit: Tour of Turkey/Brian Hodes)

The Jerseys
SporToto Turquoise Jersey (Race leader): José Gonçalves (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA) 
Turkish Airlines Red Jersey (Mountains): PrzemysÅ‚aw Niemiec (Lampre – Merida)
Vestel White Jersey (Beauties of Turkey Sprints): Lluís Mas (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA)
Salcano Green Jersey (Sprints): José Gonçalves (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA)

RIDER COMMENTS:
Stage winner Jaime Rosón (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA): “The plan today was to get into the breakaway to control the race so that we did not have to take on too much responsibility. José Gonçalves, 2nd in GC, got in, forcing CCC to work, while we rode in the group with relative tranquillity.  The final climb was very hard. I didn't feel good all day, and the stage started fast, and I've had to work on other days. However, the more I climbed, the better I felt . The CCC attacked, I chased at top speed. Niemiec then caught me. I tried to wait to see if José [Gonçalves] came across to me., but there wasn't time. Niemiec attacked twice, but I was able to respond and win the stage. 
Winning the Queen Stage of a national Tour is fantastic! I came close to winning the Queen Stage at  Castilla and Leon against Valverde, but I was caught 400m from the finish. Today I was more cold blooded. As a team we have two stage wins and a second place, the race lead – it's a great showing.” 
I've been riding for 15 years, I was Spanish U23 champion last year. My first pro race was the USA Pro-Challenge in Colorado, where I finished 13th. 

SporToto Turquoise Jersey (Race leader), José Gonçalves (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA): “I've worked hard to get into top form in this. But things have never worked out for me. I wanted to ride a good Tirreno-Adriatico, but it didn't happen. I lost my motivation, and my head was not in the right place, but I continued working for other races and now, it's paying off, thanks be to god. I'm super motivated, and I'm going better with each passing day.  
Pello wasn't feeling good today and, when he was dropped, I was given freedom to try something and gain a bit more time on my direct adversaries. I've climbed better in the Vuelta a España, although I wasn't bad today. Ricardo Vilela did an incredible job for me today, and I couldn't let him down. with 500m to go I could see him but I couldn't get across. You only win when you cross the line on the final day. There are two tough stages to go, with climbs, so we'll see how I feel. I think I'll feel OK, but all it takes [to lose a race] is one day of illness, as happened today with Pello. As a team we have good feelings, we're riding well, we have two more days to defend the lead to the end. It won't be easy, but we have a good team. 

(Click through for Hi Res. Photo credit: Tour of Turkey/Brian Hodes)

Second placed and Turkish Airlines Red Jersey (Mountains) Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre-Merida): “What a pity! I accelerated at the right moment. I thought [Jaime Roson] would be more tired than he effectively was. I fought till the end but I couldn’t get the stage win. However, I’m happy to lead the mountains classification. It shows that I’m climbing well and the preparation for the Giro has gone well. I’m satisfied with my results at the TUR so far: a stage win, a second place, a fourth one. After an early part of the season that was so so, I’m in a great shape now.”

Third placed Pawel Cieslik (Verva-Activejet): “It was a hard stage and I had sore legs but with 4km to go, I felt much better. I was here to work for our leader Karel Hnik but I happened to be at the front. I’ve liked this mountain very much. It was a good finish for me. I’ve thought I was going to win but it was difficult against Lampre-Merida and Caja Rural, they were very strong. However, this is a good result for my team. It’s our first season as a pro continental team. It’s a pity I was sick during the Tour of Catalunya, which was our first wild card in the World Tour, but the Tour of Turkey is the second biggest event we get a chance to take part in so a podium here in the queen stage is very good.”

Vestel White Jersey (Beauties of Turkey Sprints), Lluis Mas (Caja Rural-RGA): “I’m happy because this was possibly going to be the hardest stage for us as we knew since last night that Pello Bilbao was sick with a stomach bug. Our first thinking was to not fight for the stage win and monitor the Astana rider [Nikita Stalnov] and Adam Hansen [who had a mechanical in the final ascent]. Jaime [Roson] went to the front in the finale while José [Gonçalves] and David [Arroyo] stayed up there for GC and at the end we have everything, stage win and GC lead. It’s a great day for us despite the suffering.”

How it happened
The peloton, consisting this morning of 101 riders, rolled out from Kumluca at 12:50.

22” separated the first non-Caja Rural - Seguros RGA rider – Astana City's Nikita Stalnov – from the race leader Pello Bilbao. 25 KoM points available in the stage: more than double the current total of the competition leader Rémy Di Gregorio. 

In the opening kilometres, 4 riders gained a momentary advantage. They were:

67 Antonio Viola (NIP)
83 Grischa Janorschke (ROT)
138 Remco Te Brake (PVC)
154 Alessandro Malaguti (UNI)

They were soon reabsorbed by the group. Minutes later, a group of 15 took the lead. But the peloton reacted to bring them back into the fold. All this within the first 10 km.

After km 14, 62 Eduard Michael Grosu (NIP) opened a short lead. Seven riders gave chase. A group of 15 formed, then.. all together.

9 riders then countered, and a gap opened. 

4 Ilia Koshevoy (LAM) 3rd in the KoM competiton with 11 points. 
11 Stig Broeckx (TLS) 9th at 8'01”.
22 José Gonçalves (CJR) 2nd in GC at 5”, & 3rd in the Points competitions, 3 pts behind the leader Alberto Cecchin (ROT).
67 Antonio Viola (NIP) 
81 Nicola Baldo (ROT)
111 Galym Akmetov (AST)
136 Peter Schulting (PVC) 4th in the Turkish Airlines Red Jersey competition with 7 points.
141 Nazim Bakirci (TRK)
156 Enrico Salvador (UNI)

Then 62, Eduard Michael Grosu (NIP) joined them, quickly followed by 51 Antonio Piedra (FSC).

Grosu was 4th in the Beauties of Turkey sprints competition, on 5 points (the leader, Lluís Mas (CJR) had 10 points).

Those 9 formed the early breakaway. 

After 1 hour, 10 minutes of racing, the gap was 1'20”, with CCC leading the peloton. 

The front group split, with 5 riders forming a new leading group. 
4 Ilia Koshevoy (LAM) 3rd in the KoM competiton with 11 points. 
11 Stig Broeckx (TLS) 9th at 8'01”.
81 Nicola Baldo (ROT)
136 Peter Schulting (PVC) 4th in the KoM competition with 7 points.
141 Nazim Bakirci (TRK)

Their advantage after 1h 55 minutes of racing was 1'30”.

The lead group then reformed.

After 2 hours of racing, that group led by 1'20”.

After 2 hours and 2 minutes of racing, 136 Peter Schulting (PVC) 4th in the KoM competition, attacked out of the lead group.

Beauties of Turkey sprint: km 45.0
1. (5 pts) 136 Peter Schulting (PVC) 
2. (3 pts) 11 Stig Broeckx (TLS) 
3. (1 pt) 141 Nazim Bakirci (TRK)

Schulting joined three other riders – 96 Pawel Cieslik, 66 Riccardo Stacchiotti and 62 Eduard Michael Grosu (NIP) – on 5 points in that competition, led, of course, by Lluís Mas (CJR) on 10 points.

Schulting, Broeckx and Bakirci formed a group at the head of the race, with 81 Nicola Baldo (ROT) and 51 Antonio Piedra (FSC) giving chase. 

The trio led the main group by 1'24”.

51 Antonio Piedra (FSC) joined the three leaders. Some kilometres later, those four were joined by 81 Nicola Baldo (ROT).

1 km before the Cat. 1 mountain prize, their advantage reached 2' over the main group.

A third group lay 1' behind the main group.

GPM (Cat 1): km 54.7 (Points for the first 5 riders: 10, 7, 5, 3, 1).
1. (10 pts) 141 Nazim Bakirci (TRK)
2. (7 pts) 136 Peter Schulting (PVC)
3. (5 pts) 51 Antonio Piedra (FSC)
4. (3 pts) 11 Stig Broeckx (TLS)
5. (1 pt) 81 Nicola Baldo (ROT)

Schulting took the lead in the Turkish Airlines Red Jersey competition, which temperarily looked like this:

1. Peter Schulting (PVC) 14 pts
2. Rémy Di Gregorio (DMP) 12 pts 
3. Przemyslaw Niemiec (LAM) 11 pts
4. Ilia Koshevoy (LAM) 11 pts
[...]

At this point, the leaders had an advantage of 1'41”. Caja Rural – Segurs RGA led the main group at high speed. 

The gap began to drop, and, with 40.5 km left in the stage, it had dropped to 35”. With 36.3 km to go, and Antonio Piedrea the last of the breakaway riders still out front, there was a fierce attack out of the main group by 126 Dominik Hrinkow (HAC), with 7 Simone Petilli (LAM) giving chase. 

Intermediate sprint: km 88.0
1. (5 pts) Manuel Belletti (STH) 
2. (3 pts) Daniele Colli (NIP)
3. (1 pt) Dominik Hrinkow (HAC)

After the intermediate sprint, two riders bridged across to the leaders. 

7 Simone Petilli (LAM)
61 Daniele Colli (NIP)
72 Liam Bertazzo (STH)
126 Dominik Hrinkow (HAC)

Those four built a lead of 1'05” with 17.8 km to go, as Marco Zanotti (PVC), 3rd in stages 1 and 4, pulled at the front of the main group. 

With 11.5km to go, at the foot of the final climb, the advantage of the four leaders was down to 15 seconds as 7 CCC riders vied with Lampre – Merida and Caja Rural – Seguros RGA for the position at the front of the main group.  

Bertazzi was the first of the four to be dropped, as Dominik Hrinkow increased the pace of the leaders. The trio of Hrinkow, Petilli and Colli led by 10” with 10 km to go. 

9.8 km to go, Simone Petilli darted away from his breakaway companions. Colli and Hrinkow quickly surrendered.

With 8.7 km to go, an attack off the front of the main group by a VAT rider was over 

At that point of the race, a TV bike picked up the race leader since stage 2, Pello Bilbao (CJR) off the back, and no longer even attempting to save time. His team still had the top two riders in GC. Last year's winner, Kristijan Duresek (LAM), still recovering had also lost contact with the main group.

With 7.5km to go. Petilli (LAM) led the main group by 24”. Sylwester Szmyd hit the front with 7.2km to go, with Adam Hansen two places behind him. 

6.7 km to go, Koshevoy attacked and bridged over to Petilli. Jan Hirt (CCC) goes with Koshevoy. CJR restor order, as two of their riders, Vilela and Gonçalves, move to the front of the group, with Hansen (TLS) behind them and the Beauties of Turkey leader, Lluís Mas (CJR), in close attendance.. 24 riders in the lead group with 5.8 km to go. 

5.6 km to go: Mauro Finetto (UNI) twice a TUR stage winner in 2009, attacks, but it lasts a matter of seconds before Vilela stamps it out.

With 2.5 km to go, CCC were setting a blistering tempo at the front of the peloton, when Adam Hansen stopped at the side of the road with a mechanical problem.

With 2.2 km to go, Koshevoy attacked, with Hirt (CCC) and Rosón (CJR) on his wheel. Ciesik (VAC) gave chase, as did Stage 1 winner and former race leader Niemiec (LAM).

With 1.7 km to go, Rosón struck out alone. He rode away to take the stage win, ahead of yhe Polis riders Niemiec (LAM) and Ciesik (VAC). The Belorus Koshevoy (LAM) and another Pole, Hirt (CCC) rounded off the top five. 

José Gonçalves (CJR) finished 6th and took the race lead.