Marcel Kittel won the seventh stage of the 49th Presidental Tour of Turkey and to his Argos-Shimano’s team's second victory in the race.
Today’s stage was a flat, fast affair perfect for the sprinters to have another bite at victory over 124.5km from Kusadasi to Izmir.
Six riders in Hepburn (OGE), Juul Jensen (SAX), Jarrier (BSE), Mihaylov (CCC), Verschoor (TNN) and Finetto (VIN).were the days main escapers and were never allowed to get more than 2.40 ahead of the peloton which included race leader Mustapha Sayer.
Finetto beat Mihaylov to take the first Turkish Beauty intermediate sprint after 87.8kms but it was Hepburn who took the second at Sehitlik Mosque after 108kms.
Argos Shimano took to the front of the peloton and continued to close down the escapers who had only twenty seconds gap with ten kilometres to go.
That was enough to force Orica Green Edge's Michael Hepburn to attack and he went away on the coastal road with eight kilometres to go.
He was finally caught with three to go and under a long line of palm trees, it was Andy Fenn on the front for Omega Pharma.
Just on the final bend, there was a crash which took out a number of riders and those who escaped headed for the finish line. Out of the bunch came Marcel Kittel to win in a time of 2.40.05 beating Andrea Guardini (Astana) and Maximiliano Richeze (Lampre) by over a bike length.
“It’s always great to win, but especially after some difficult stages and after my crash in stage 2," said Kittel to his Argos Shimano's press office after the stage. "It was a nervous final but we got through it and from there it was up to me. The team once again did a fantastic job today.”
Mustapha Sayer keeps his leader's jersey ahead of Natnael Berhane, going into the final stage.
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