MODOLO RESUMES NORMAL SERVICE IN THE ALANYA SUN  
Bilbao (CJR) preserves race lead in day of calm and warm sunshine.

Alanya, Wednesday 27 April – Sacha Modolo (Lampre - Merida) has taken the third TUR stage win of his career in stage 4, the Türk Hava Yolları SeydiÅŸehir-Alanya Stage (187 km), of the 52nd Presidential Tour of Turkey, which took the race over the western Taurus Mountains to Alanya on the Mediterranean coast. 

After strong sidewinds in Cappadocia on Stage 2 and yesterday, with pouring rain to boot, the peloton finally enjoyed a day of gentle Turkish sunshine, and then a stage finish beside a astonishingly turquoise sea: the trademarks of the race and the country.

It all ended in a bunch sprint, in which Italians filled the top five places through Daniele Colli (Nippo - Vini Fantini), Marco Zanotti (Parkhotel Valkenburg Continental), and the two Southeast - Venezuela riders Manuel  Belletti and Jakub Mareczko. 
 

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

Stage 4 result
1. Sacha Modolo (Lampre - Merida), 187 km in 3h48'33", ave. 41.72 kph
2. Daniele Colli (Nippo - Vini Fantini) in s.t.
3. Marco Zanotti (Parkhotel Valkenburg Continental) in s.t.

GC standings post-Stage 4
1. Pello Bilbao (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA) 
2. José Gonçalves (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA) 
3. David Arroyo (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA)

The Jerseys post-Stage 4
SporToto Turquoise Jersey (Race leader): Pello Bilbao (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA) 
Turkish Airlines Red Jersey (Mountains): Rémy Di Gregorio (Delko Marseille Provence KTM)
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:
SporToto Turquoise Jersey (Race leader) Pello Bilbao (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA): 
Today was easier than yesterday. The start was really fast, we tried to control it and not to form two big groups. We worked together with Lotto, because they wanted the same as us, and I think we did a good job and, afterwards, itn eh alst km, we were at the front fo the ghroup in order not to put ourselves at risk, and it was a great day for us. We are in the same place as yesterday, which is our goal until the 6th stage we want to maintain the situation, and then we'll see.
As for Niemiec, I think he has forgotten about the GC overall and now he has other goals. It think he was trying to get into the break or get the mountain points. I think it's nothing personal, he has no reason to look for revenge. 

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

Stage winner Sacha Modolo (Lampre - Merida): "Today's win took a bit of slyness, because we left it late. We all thought Lotto would come through, but they didn't. With 700m to go, we almost stopped. One of the Zanotti's team went through, and I got onto his wheel. At 400m he stopped, and I thought it was all over, then Belletti went, and took two bike lengths, then I got back to him, and sprinted. It was non-linear, chaotic. It was very nervous, after yesterday, which was a horrible stage.
"I needed a win. I thought I was very strong this year. I couldn't win in Dubai: I got a 4th, and 5th, and a 2nd, 4th, behind Viviani. At Qatar, I was beaten by Cavendish. At Tirreno, I was always in the top 10. At Sanremo, I thought I'd do OK, but I fell on the Poggio. In the northern classics, I was strong but I didn't get a win. Then I came here and fell on stage 1. My morale wasn't the best. My knee hurt, especially on St 2. Yesterday it felt better, but I was angry with myself because someone like me shouldn't be getting dropped in echelons. I made the second group, and I was a bit annoyed. I needed a win, especially now, because I have been preparing for the Giro. Today, tomorrow, the penultimate stage, then the Giro to do well. 
"Maybe Italian cycling lacks a strong northern classics specialist, perhaps someone is coming through. In modern cycling, 21 or 22 years old, if you haven't won sth, you are no one. In my day, you got your best results aged 27. Before that, you had to do jobs that don't even exist today. For me, a lot of people complain, we have no great champion, but we are always there or thereabouts. As sprinters, we are the best, in my opinion. Viviani is among the best, there's Nizzolo, too, and I consider myself one fo the best, but unlike other foreign sprinters, no one invests in a train for us. At a race like the Giro, if someone gives me a train, I'll win. We need to invest in it. 
"At the worlds it'll be difficult: it'll be a fight to be the designated sprinter bexause we are all at the same level. I haven't spoken to [national selector] Davide Cassani, I don't know what plans he has. Last year, by the end of the Giro, I made the mistake of having too many days of competition in my legs. This year I'm trying to balance the season better."

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

Second placed Daniele Colli (Nippo-Vini Fantini): “It was a hard stage because the rhythm was high from the flag. In the finale, Greipel and Modolo were the riders to watch for the sprint. With 2.5km to go, my team-mates Stacchiotti and Grosu did an excellent work taking me to the front. At the end, maybe there was a way for me to beat Modolo. I came back to him but I couldn’t do more. I was at the maximum of my possibilities.”

Third placed Marco Zanotti (Parkhotel Valkenburg): “It’s nice to be part of a fully Italian podium. My team has helped me all day. Sven [Van Luijk] was in the breakaway and the others protected me before they put me in the best position for sprinting. Even though I don’t often win races, they trust me. There are great sprinters here. It’s not easy to beat them. But every day we try and maybe one day they’ll make a mistake so we’ll take the top price.”

Turkish Airlines Red Jersey (Mountains): Rémy Di Gregorio (Delko Marseille Provence KTM): “Past the first climb, we rode away from the peloton, the three of us: Niemiec, Koshevoy and myself. We went flat out on the flattish section between the two climbs but CCC wasn’t happy with that and they chased us down. It’s been a nice battle for the KOM points. My team has worked well. I’m still in the lead but now I have two rivals from the same team. It won’t be easy to keep the jersey.”

Vestel White Jersey (Beauties of Turkey Sprints): Lluís Mas (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA): “This morning everyone thought the breakaway could work out. For us, it was fine to let Lampre-Merida and CCC go away but I think they have had a fight between them so their attempt in the first climbs was unsuccessful. It was also good for us because with six different riders in the lead after the climbs, Lotto-Soudal controlled the race for a bunch sprint but I believe at the end they have paid for their efforts yesterday and that’s very understandable.”

How it happened
The peloton of 109 starters passed km 0 in Seydi̇şehi̇r, the bauxite and aluminium centre in the west part of Konya province, at 11:33 a.m. There were attacks from the start, with solo riders and small handfuls of riders gaining tens of metres on the main group, then being reabsorbed.

On the initial 13 flat kilometres, rider 46, Mikel Aristi (DMP) crashed out of the race in an early incident.

The subsequent climb ascent took the riders to an altitude of 1820m in the western Taurus Mountains. which divide the central Anatolian Plateau from the Mediterranean coastal region. The system extends along a curve from Lake EÄŸirdir in the west to the upper reaches of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the east. It is a part of the belt of mountain ranges extending along the southern margin of Eurasia, stretching from Java to Sumatra through the Himalayas, the Mediterranean, and out into the Atlantic.

Rémy Di Gregorio (DMP) started the day wearing the Turkish Airlines Red Jersey (Mountains) and leading the competition with 9 points. PrzemysÅ‚aw Niemiec (Lampre – Merida) started the day 9th in the mountains competition, with just one point. At the Cat 1 GPM (km 31.9, 1646m), Niemiec's team-mate Koshevoy and PVC's Peter Schulting attacked first. They were followed by Niemiec and Di Gregorio, while Christophe Laborie (DMP) led the group across the line.

GPM: Km 31.9 (Cat 1, 1646m) 
1. (10 pts) Ilia Koshevoy (LAM)
2. (7 pts) Peter Schulting (PVC)
3. (5 pts) Przemysław Niemiec (LAM)
4 (3 pts) Rémy Di Gregorio (DMP)
5. (1 pt) Christophe Laborie (DMP)

The riders completed 37 km in the first hour of racing.

At the second GPM of the day, 6.1 km later, Niemiec attacked alone to take all five points.

GPM: 38.0 (Cat 2, 1810m) 
1. (5 pts) PrzemysÅ‚aw Niemiec (Lampre – Merida)
2. (3 pts) Mauro Finetto (Unieuro Wilier)
3. (2 pts) Ricardo Vilela (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA)
4. (1 pt) Ilia Koshevoy (Lampre - Merida)

Di Gregorio retained his lead in the competition with a total of 12 pts, with Niemiec breathing down his neck on 11 pts, and his team-mate Koshevoy on 10. Schulting moved into 4th place with 7 points. At that point, the 85 km descent to the Mediterranean coast began, with occasional uphill sections, including the Cat. 3 climb at km 113, which would decide who would receive the Turkish Airlines Red Jersey on the podium. It did so by default: three riders with a collective total of no mountain points passed first:

GPM: km 113.0 (Cat 3, 385m) 
1. (3 pts) Dominik Hrinkow (HAC)
2. (2 pts) Pawel Cieslik (VAT)
3. (1 pt) Nikolay Mihaylov (CCC)

After the Cat 3 GPM, three riders came across to those three, to form a leading group of six. They were:

33 Nikolay Mihaylov (CCC)
77 Mirko Tedeschi (STH)
96 Pawel Cieslik (VAT)
126 Dominik Hrinkow (HAC)
133 Sven Van Luijk (PVC)
154 Alessandro Malaguti (UNI)

They built a maximum lead of 2'55”. 

km 129.5 - 57.5 km to go: At Kizilot, just after Hacıobası, the stage route reached the coast and the riders entered the first of the 60 flat kilometres to the finish line at Alanya.

Intermediate sprint: km 134.9
1. (3 pts) Alessandro Malaguti (UNI)
2. (2 pts) Pawel Cieslik (VAT)
3. (1 pt) Dominik Hrinkow (HAC)

At the intermediate sprint, the six led by 2'15”.

kWith 43.6 km to go, in advance of the Beauties of Turkey sprint at Avsallar, founded by a Turkmen tribe of Afshar from Kençek Señir, a historical settlement in Kyrgyzstan, in the 15th century, Pawel Cieslik (VAT), attacked out of the leading group, with Alessandro Malaguti (UNI) on his wheel. They were then chased down by Sven Van Luijk (PVC), forming a trio of riders in the race lead.

With 35.2 km to go, Nikolay Mihaylov (CCC), Mirko Tedeschi (STH) and Dominik Hrinkow (HAC) were absorbed by the pack. 

Beauties of Turkey sprint: km 153.3 (33.7 km to go)
1. (5 pts) Pawel Cieslik (VAT)
2. (3 pts) Sven Van Luijk (PVC)
3. (1 pts) Alessandro Malaguti (UNI)

At the Beauties of Turkey sprint, the three leaders had an advantage of 2'21” over the main group. André Greipel's Lotto Belisol team-mates now led the chase at the front of the peloton. The gap evolved like this:
30km to go: 2'12”
28km to go: 2'04”
23km to go: 1''57”
20km to go: 1'27”
18km to go: 1'19”
16km to go: 1'10”
14km to go: 1'09”

12.4km Malaguti attacked alone, while Cieslik gave chase, without, however, closing. Malaguti's lead decreased thus:
12km to go: 58”
10km to go: 54”
8km to go: 45”
7km to go: 31”
6km to go: 24”
5km to go: 13”
Caught with 4.6 km to go, as the peloton, led by the massing ranks of Lotto Belisol, swung around to the right to join the Alanya sea front. Nippo – Vini Fantini and Southeast – Venezuela and Lampre – Merida sent riders up to work for their sprinters Colli, Belletti and Modolo. 

With 1.3 km, Southeast led, but too early. Greipel sat in 6th position. Ferrari led his sprinter Modolo, the winner a year ago at Pamukkale, alongside – and then through. Modolo took the stage win, with Daniele Colli (Nippo - Vini Fantini)  second, Zanotti (Parkhotel Valkenburg Continental) 3rd, and the Southeast - Veneuela pair of Belletti and Marczko 4th and 5th..