Tour of Turkey: Ulissi will lead UAE Team Emirates

UAE Team Emirates has chosen the 8 riders who will participate in the second-to-last event on the 2017 World Tour calendar, the Tour of Turkey (October 10-15).

Here are the cyclists available to Sports Directors Bruno Vicino (Italy) and Daniele Righi (Italy):
Darwin Atapuma (Colombia)
Simone Consonni (Italy)
Marko Kump (Slovenia)
Vegard Stake Laengen (Norway)
Przemyslaw Niemiec (Poland)
Edward Ravasi (Italy)
Diego Ulissi (Italy)
Federico Zurlo (Italy)

The Tour of Turkey will feature 6 stages: the  4th fraction, with an uphill arrival in Selçuc, will probably be decisive for the general classification.

The tour will wrap up in Istanbul on Sunday, October 15th.

Sports Director Bruno Vicino outlined the possibilities for the Turkish race: “The Tour of Turkey has always been a hard-fought race and this year it became a World Tour event, so there will definitely be a higher level of competition. The fourth stage with an uphill arrival in Selçuc will be critical for the general classification, but we shouldn’t underestimate the fifth stage with arrival in Izmir: Atapuma and Ulissi, with some support from Ravasi and Niemiec, could grab the spotlight here.
In the fractions with simpler altimetry, we will give Consonni and Kump some room, with Laengen and Zurlo ready to jump on any chance to break out.”

Diego Ulissi: “I’ll be participating in the Tour of Turkey for the second time in my career; I’ve only ridden in the 2010 edition. I’m glad to be returning to Turkey, especially to mark the race becoming a part of the World Tour circuit. I’m in good form in this end of season; I hope this will help me be competitive in the more demanding stages.”