Michal Golas gave it everything he had at the 181km Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey on Friday. Golas was part of a three rider breakaway that went up the road with 18 other riders at kilometer 72, and then dropped them kilometers later. Golas kept fighting until he was caught with 2km to go. His other two break mates had long been caught, and Golas simply had nothing left in the tank to keep up with two riders that bridged to him in the final kilometers.
"Today I was really motivated to enter the break," Golas said. "I tried since the beginning. In the last 72 kilometers I tried to do something big. It was different with the wind on the parcours. The wind was really a factor. With the wind in your face, the headwind, it's not so easy to manage a break. The roads were really big as well, and therefore easier to control for the group. If the roads were a bit more narrow it would be different, but with a road like that — not easy. I am not happy for the result but happy for my condition so far. I showed I have the legs to do good in the Giro d'Italia and look forward to the race. I really want to do something good, something special with my teammates if there's a possiblity to go for a stage. I am pretty happy about it.
Andy Fenn tried to bridge to the three that escaped, along with Andre Greipel. However, they both sat up and waited for the peloton as the race progressed.
Enrico Battaglin of Colnago had bridged to Golas with with less than 5km remaining, and then dropped the two. He was caught with just 500 meters to go, leaving the field to scramble for the sprint finish. Sacha Modolo (Colnago) won, with Matthew Goss (GreenEDGE) placing 2nd and Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) taking 3rd.
According to team staff, the first 60km of the race were brutal. The peloton, thanks to a crash, was split into six parts at one point. Nikolas Maes made the first group when the peloton split into pieces. Marco Bandiera, meanwhile, won the Red (climbers) jersey. Francesco Chicchi and Frantisek Rabon formed a groupetto following the split.
Nikolas Maes was the top finisher for Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team, in 21st place.