Matteo Malucelli wins opening stage of Tour of Antalya

By Emre Asikci

ISTANBUL (AA) - Italian cyclist Matteo Malucelli won the opening stage of the Tour of Antalya on Thursday.

"It was quite stressful at the beginning of today’s windy stage, but the team did a great job to protect and assist me," Malucelli said after the race. "We have done plenty of work at the pre-season training camps, so this is a well-deserved win.”

Malucelli, 28, who is part of the Gazprom-RusVelo team, completed the 144.5-kilometer (90-mile) track in 3:24:27 to win stage one of Side-Antalya.

Jakub Mareczko of Alpecin-Fenix finished second and Karl Patrick Luuk of Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB was third.

The second stage will be held Friday on the 183.3-kilometer (114-mile) Kemer-Antalya track.

The Tour of Antalya is a grueling 2.1 category stage race along the Mediterranean coast of Turkiye.

The race consists of four stages and is being held for the fourth time in the southern resort city of Antalya from Feb, 10-13.

A total of 161 athletes from 14 countries will cycle more than 600 kilometers (373 miles) during the event.