Cycling: Final Stage Of Tour Of Turkey Begins

The final stage of the 54th Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey started in Bursa province on Sunday.



The sixth stage started in Bursa and will end in Istanbul for a 164-kilometer (nearly 102 miles) race.



After five stages, Kazakh Alexey Lutsenko, who rides for the Astana Pro team, leads the general classification, followed by Nathan Haas, an Australian cyclist riding for Katusha-Alpecin and Italian Diego Ulissi, who rides for the UAE Team Emirates, both just four second behind.



For the second time, the Tour of Turkey is part of the World Tour category.



This year's edition finds 20 teams from across the world, including the Turkish national team, race in the 950-kilometer (590.3-mile), six-stage tour. After its promotion to the World Tour category, the Tour of Turkey is expected to reach a large audience through broadcasts in more than 120 countries. Organized by the Turkish Cycling Federation, the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey debuted in 1963 and became an international race two years later. In the world's only cycling tour on two continents, riders will go through in the Eurasia tunnel beneath the Bosphorus Strait. Some 140 cyclists, 20 teams, including nine "World Tour", are racing in the Tour of Turkey. This year, the six-day tour started in Konya on Oct. 9 and will end in Istanbul on Oct. 14.Stages: Stage 1: Konya - Konya / Oct. 9 // 148.4 kmStage 2: Alanya - Antalya / Oct. 10 // 149.6 km Stage 3: Fethiye - Marmaris / Oct. 11 // 132.7 kmStage 4: Marmaris - Selcuk / Oct. 12 // 205.5 km Stage 5: Selcuk - Manisa / Oct. 13 // 135.7 km Stage 6: Bursa - Istanbul / Oct. 14 // 164 km Teams: Turkish National Team Astana Pro Team Bahrain - Merida Bmc Racing TeamBora - HansgroheBurgos - BHCaja Rural - Seguros RGACCC Sprandi PolkowiceDelko Marseille Provence KTMEuskadi Basque Country - Murias Gazprom - RusveloManzana Postobon Team Quick - Step FloorsSport Vlaanderen - BaloiseTeam Katusha AlpecinTeam SunwebTrek - Segafredo UAE Team EmiratesWB Aqua Protect VeranclassicWilier Triestina - Selle Italia -