Consonni one step off of Bursa podium

The fourth stage of the Tour of Turkey, 194.3 km from Balıkesir to Bursa, ended in an uphill run that took the sprinters’ legs and lungs to the limit. Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) ruled the day ahead of Juan Josè Lobato (Nippo-Vini Fantini), Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) and our Simone Consonni, fourth.

Having begun the sprint (photo Bettini) on Ewan’s wheel, the Italian rider from the UAE Team Emirates was not able to take advantage of the Australian’s wake, just missing a podium finish.
Team-mate Juan Sebastian Molano placed just behind in sixth.

The team’s Aleksandr Riabushenko could not start the stage due to a fever attack overnight.

“The day had not started well, given that at the start and during the stage, I had severe sore throat,” Consonni said. “However, I knew that the final of the stage suited my characteristics, so I held on and arrived in the last kilometres driven by conviction. It was a very hard sprint, we raced the uphill at high speeds, spending every drop of energy.

In light of all this, fourth place is a good result, even if I wanted to get on the podium. One last possibility remains, on Sunday, to try to hit the big target.”

The fifth stage will be decisive for the general classification, still led by Sam Bennett. Jan Polanc sits fourth and Valerio Conti in sixth, both at 30″. The day starts in Bursa and finishes uphill, after 164.1 km, in Kartepe. The road climbs 12km at 9.15%.

Stage 4 results
1 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto-Soudal 5h21’38”
2 Juan Josè Lobato (Esp) Nippo-Fantini Vini s.t.
3 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-hansgrohe s.t.
4 Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates s.t.

General classification after stage 4
1 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-hansgrohe 16h25’42”
2 Felix Grosschartner (Aut) Bora-hasngrohe 24″
3 Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Manzana Postobon 26″
4 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 30″