The Giro is upon us, and Poels is ready! Dutch rider hits double in queen stage of Tour of Turkey

After several stages that ended in a sprint with a large group, it was now the turn of the men with ambitions for the GC. In the queen stage of the Tour of Turkey, the riders faced two challenging climbs, crowned by the final climb to Akyaka, which was nine kilometers long with an average gradient of almost 10%!

A large group of riders spotted an opportunity to attack in this stage, resulting in a traditional early breakaway of fifteen riders. However, on the first climb of the day, their chances were quickly dashed when they were caught by the peloton, which was no longer intact.

Amid harsh conditions, the peloton remained together for a long time. Despite several new attacks, it took a while before a new breakaway group formed. With 50 kilometers to go, five riders attacked again, but the peloton ensured that the five breakaway riders never built up a dangerous lead while it continued to rain in Turkey, which is normally so sunny.

On the descent towards the final climb, it was clear that the roads were extremely slippery. Several riders – including a rider from Unibet Tietema Rockets – crashed with 35 kilometers to go, prompting the peloton to take the descent slowly to avoid further crashes.

After the descent, it was time to assess the damage. The peloton had broken up considerably, leaving a small group, including Poels, Del Grosso, and Van den Broek, to tackle the tough final climb. The remaining leaders were caught in the first few kilometers, which were immediately tough, and Del Grosso fell behind.

With six kilometers to go, Poels took the initiative and was joined by the young Guillermo Juan Martinez. After that, Van den Broek managed to catch up with Harold Martín López. The two pairs from XDS Astana Team and Picnic PostNL headed together toward the final four kilometers.

At the front, Jon Agirre and Abel Balderstone managed to catch up, leaving six riders to enter the final three kilometers. That was the moment for Poels to go, and he immediately opened up a nice gap. In the last two kilometers, the chasers did not close the gap, allowing Poels to celebrate for the first time for his new team and confidently set his sights on his main goal: the Giro d'Italia.