Pello Bilbao of Caja Rural said that his side wanted to do a good job as he took victory on the sixth stage of the Tour Of Turkey.
Bilbao got past Miguel Lopez of Astana in the closing stages and said to the Tour Of Turkey press office: "Today we came here with a clear strategy to do a good final climb.
We knew that the team was in a really good moment, and in the past couple of stages we saw that in the climbs we were very strong. We wanted to use that power of the team to do a good job today. They guys were incredible and I won the stage, finally.
"My initial intention was to do a good job in the GC, but in the 3rd stage, I lost all my chances of doing so, so my thoughts turned to this stage. We have been able to do a good job today and I’m happy now.
"In the third stage, I was really sad because I knew I had a great opportunity to do a good job in GC, but now I’ve forgotten all about it."
Kristijan Durasek (Lampre - Merida), the new race leader said: "I knew it was the last GC stage, and I knew that I had to try because I had nothing to lose. I did the best I could and it went well.
"I was surprised when Rebelin won the first stage. I thought it was too hard for him. I wasn’t sure if I could beat him today, but I had nothing to lose, and it was successful.
"I’ll just try to keep the jersey. Stage seven is a hard stage, but not so hard that it will be possible to make a difference in GC."
Pello Bilbao celebrates at Selçuk
(Photo credit: Tour of Turkey/Brian Hodes)
Result, Stage 6 - Denizli - Selçuk.
1. Pello Bilbao (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA), 184 km in 4h38’46”, ave. speed 39.603 kmh
2. Miguel Ángel López (Astana Pro Team) at 3”
3. Heiner Parra (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA) at 11’
4. Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) at 14”
5. Alex Cano (Colombia) s.t.
General Classification
1. Kristijan Durasek (Lampre - Merida)
2. Davide Rebellin (CCC Sprandi Polkowice) at 21”
3. Eduardo Sepúlveda (Bretagne - Séché Environnement) at 32”
4. Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff - Saxo) at 1’14”
5. Alex Cano (Colombia) at 1’30”
Jerseys
Turquoise, sponsored by Spor Toto (General Classification): Kristijan Durasek (Lampre - Merida)
Green, Salcano (Points): Sacha Modolo (Lampre - Merida)
Red, Turkish Airlines (Mountains): Juan Pablo Valencia (Team Colombia)
White, Vestel (Beauties of Turkey): Lluis Mas (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA