Queen stage, second place for Ulissi

Diego Ulissi could not stop Alexey Lutsenko for a repeat win on the Tour of Turkey’s Selçuk summit finish.
The captain of UAE Team Emirates was unable to double up after his 2017 success in the Tour of Turkey’s queen stage, but still came away with a good second place on the heels of Astana’s Kazakh.

The fourth stage of the Turkish race, 206.9km, with the start in Marmaris, gave way to the traditional summit finish – short but tough. The team directed by Marzano and Pedrazzini moved with precision to bring Ulissi and Durasek in good position at the foot of the final climb. The Croatian climber supported his Italian team-mate well. In the last kilometer, Ulissi went to the head of the group and pushed hard in the last 200 metres, ramping towards a slow sprint. Just before the line, Lutsenko took out Ulissi for the stage and the overall lead.

Ulissi sits second overall at four seconds. He said, “There’s bitterness for having just missing the main goal, but complements to Lutsenko for the winning ride.
The climb was taken at a pace that wasn’t so fast, also due to the strong wind that reminded everyone to remain in the wheels. Given that, there was not much selection and we got to the final kilometre with some fast riders still in the front spots. I tried to start early, knowing that it would be risky, but unfortunately Lutsenko darted clear“.

Stage 4 results
1 Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) 5h24’22”
2 Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) s.t.
3 Eduard Prades (Euskadi-Murias) s.t.

General classification after stage 4
1 Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) 15h34’30”
2 Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) 4″
3 Eduard Prades (Euskadi-Murias) 6″