André Greipel added his fourth stage win in six tries at the Presidential Tour of Turkey. The German had a good gap over Liquigas' Davide Cimolai and Manuel Belletti (Colnago - CSF Inox). There was no change in the overall lead, with Giovanni Visconti still ahead of American Tejay Van Garderen.
Greipel's directeur sportif Jan Schaffrath was a bit surprised at the peloton arriving together in Finike. "To be honest I didn't think that today was going to end in a sprint," Schaffrath said. "It was so hilly in the first part of the stage, and then the roads were really undulating in the last part along the coast."
A two-man break with Christophe Kern and Frederik Wilmann was only caught 800m from the line. "Finally, though, we managed to bring the break back in the nick of time. The whole team, particularly the younger riders, did an exceptionally good job today," Schaffrath explained.
Besides the sprint, the team also needed to look out for the general classification, where Tejay Van Garderen is 23 seconds behind Visconti. "The guys stayed together with Tejay, our overall contender, on the final climb, with Gert Dockx riding very hard indeed. After we got over the top with about 35 guys in the front group, we started to set things up for André," said Schaffrath. "Getting that break back was a little bit like a game of poker. It was complicated to calculate because there were so many little climbs. But we got it right and André's got his fourth stage and tenth win of the season. He's having a great week of racing here."
A Cofidis firework
In a race that started fast, a three-man break formed after nine kilometers, with Christophe Kern (Cofidis), Vladimir Isaychev (Xacobeo-Galicia) and Frederik Wilmann (Skil-Shimano). Arkaitz Duran (Footon-Servetto) and Yukihiro Doi (Skil-Shimano) joined them a few kilometers later. Doi dropped back at km 38 after a mechanical problem. He was also well placed in the overall (2'46 behind), which wasn't a promising sign for the break's success.
Cofidis was trying to launch third-placed David Moncoutié, so went full gas on the category 1 after the town of Kaş, despite Kern in the lead. Cofidis was pulling with most of its team, minus Rein Taaramäe, who did not start the day due to fatigue. The peloton lost riders like André; Greipel, but eventually there was a regrouping.
The regrouping did not involve Kern and Wilmann, who continued to lead. They stayed away 185 kilometers - missing victory by only 800 meter. "Wilmann was a bit weaker than I, but he gave everything he had for the breakaway to succeed," Kern said after the finish. "When we watched the road book prior to the stage, we thought there was a possibility to make it today as the final climb wasn't as far from the finish as the previous days. Unfortunately, the head wind in the downhill condemned our initiative."
Results stage six
1. André Greipel (HTC-Columbia)
2. Davide Cimolai (Liquigas)
3. Manuel Belletti (Colnago - CSF Inox)
General classification after stage six
1. Giovanni Visconti (ISD)
2. Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Columbia)
3. David Moncoutié (Cofidis)