Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team has announced the selection that will take part in Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey, an eight stage, 1,204.5km race from April 21st until April 28th. OPQS rider Iljo Keisse won Stage 7 of the 2012 edition in dramatic fashion after crashing and suffering a mechanical in the final corner. He kept his composure and held off a charging peloton in the final meters. The 2013, 49th edition parcour is essentially the same as 2012, with an exception being the finish of the sixth stage. The finish is in Selcuk for the first time, and features a Cat. 1 summit finish. Selcuk is also a historic town, which dates back to 6000 BC and is an important location for three different religions. This summit finish could make a difference as typically Stage 3 — featuring three Category 1 climbs and an uphill finale — is normally where the GC is decided.
"The uphill stages are always interesting, and might be decisive for the GC," Van Slycke said. "But it also depends, for example, if a rider wins two or three stages with bonifications. He could have one minute of a bonus which could also be decisive for the overall. But I think with the few hilly stages, those will normally make the difference. "
Van Slycke believes OPQS will be ready for any situation based on the team selection.
"All of our riders this year have different responsibilities based on their skills," Sport Director Rik Van Slycke said. "For example, we have a specific guy for the sprints in Andrew Fenn. If you look at a few other teams, who brought their top sprinters, it might be very interesting to get into some bunch sprints. I think we have a solid team with experienced riders such as Steegmans, Maes, Rabon and Golas. We also have guys like Serge Pauwels who can go for the uphill stages and then for the breakaways we again have Golas, and Iljo Keisse who won a stage last year from that situation. We also have Matteo Trentin, who will start his season in Turkey after his injury to his scaphoid earlier this year. The selection for Tour of Turkey this year is based on the experience from last year. It was not so easy to control the race. In that kind of situation there are different opportunities that can emerge. So that's why we are a little bit mixed. So, we have a good mixture of riders who can play different roles. It will be interesting to see how it works out."