Tour of Turkey 2017 – Stage 6 Preview

By David Hunter

Istanbul – Istanbul 143.7km

The race ends with a cracking finish in Istanbul.

The stage is all about the finish, so I’ll get straight to it.

Finale

We have a steep little kicker, with around 500m at 7%. Not only that, we have cobbles too. This is a perfect point for attackers to try and drop the sprinters. If the quick men survive this section, they will be sprinting for glory.

The sharp corners also make it difficult for the bunch. Attackers just need a small gap and they will survive until the line.

Weather 

Not as nice as previous days, but still sunny and dry.

Contenders

Diego Ulissi – this is a great finish for the Italian. No doubt, he has the most explosive kick as the road goes uphill. He will make his move on the 7% section, but his success will depend on dropping everyone else. Not a fan of working with others, don’t expect Ulissi to continue on if he has company. The other option UAE have is to make the last 1.5km as hard as possible, and drop as many sprinters as they can. The corners make it very hard to regain any lost ground, bad news for some sprinters.

Edward Theuns – just loves a little kicker! Remember, this is the guy that goes smashing up the Taainenberg. I don’t think we’ll see Eddy waiting for a sprint, he’ll be looking to attack at the same point as Ulissi. He has the kick required to drop most riders, he won’t be overly worried by Ulissi. After losing four stages to Bennett, I think he’d rather take his chances by attacking on the steep slopes.

Sam Bennett – what an incredible race he’s having. Four stage wins and climbing like a dream! His current confidence must be sky high and he’ll be looking forward to trying to take a fifth stage win. This finish is hard, it is very difficult to control. He will have to ride his luck a little, as he will miss Muhlberger in the last kilometre.

Prediction Time

I think we’ll see Diego Ulissi seal the overall win by taking his second stage. When he attacks, no one will be able to follow.

The End of the Season

This is my 201st preview of the season, and my last. An enormous thank you to all who read my work, it really is very humbling to have thousands of people reading my preview. Another big thank you to Pablo, who has tirelessly translated every preview. It is a privilege to work with him. I’ll be back in January for the Aussie nationals. Vamos!

*Overall Preview

David Hunter

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