Alexey Lutsenko wins "Queen Stage" in Presidential Cycling Tour of Türkiye

By Emre Asikci

ANTALYA, Türkiye (AA) - Alexey Lutsenko of Astana Qazaqstan Team stormed win in the "Queen Stage" three of the 58th Presidential Cycling Tour of Türkiye on Tuesday.

Lutsenko completed (104.1 km) (64 mile) ride between Fethiye and Babadag mountain in three hours, 34 minutes, and 17 seconds to claim his win, ahead of Bora Hansgrohe's Ben Zwiehoff and Astana's Harold Tejada.

Fethiye - Babadag stage, also known as the "Queen Stage". The third stage includes a steep and winding road with plenty of bends to the summit of Babadag at an altitude of 1,937 meters.

Babadah stage is the hardest climb ever featured in a Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) road race in recent years, with an average slope of the mountain road of 10.4%.

Lutsenko said in a press conference that this was the hardest climb of his life as a cyclist: "Especially at the end of the season, it's hard, but even before the last climb, the previous one was very hard too. We've done one hour of climbing, always at the limit. Yes, I can confirm this was the hardest climb of my cycling career. I never experienced anything as hard before."

He also heaped praise on his teammates, saying "We have a great team. We can play our cards for the final victory."

The 31-year-old added that lost the overall win by not even one second in 2018 and this time I'm motivated to win the overall.

The Turquoise jerseys worn by the general classification leader went to Lutsenko.

With this win, Lutsenko took the Turquoise jersey worn by the general classification leader.

The eight-day event will continue with the Fethiye - Marmaris stage on Wednesday.

Starting from the Alanya district of Antalya on Sunday and ending in Istanbul on Oct. 15, the cyclists will travel 1,235 kilometers (767 miles) in the Turkish Riviera by the end of the eight-day race.

The Presidential Cycling Tour of Türkiye, which is the only intercontinental bicycle tour in the world, will host four world tour teams, seven professional, 12 continental, and one national team.

The Turkish Cycling Federation has been organizing the tour, earlier known as the Marmara Tour, since 1963. It gained international status in 1965 and was taken under presidential authority in 1966.

Remaining tracks:

Stage 4: Fethiye - Marmaris (165.3 km) (102 miles)

Stage 5: Marmaris - Yalikavak (180.6 km) (111 miles)

Stage 6: Bodrum - Selcuk (193.3 km) (119 miles)

Stage 7: Selcuk - Manisa- Izmir (159.8 km) (98 miles)

Stage 8: Istanbul - Sultanahmet (130.5 km) (80 miles)