Description
May 2, 2026
61st Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkiye 2026 🇹🇷 (2.Pro) ME – Stage 7 – Antalya – Antalya : 152,8 km
The Presidential Tour of Turkey is a UCI 2.1 classification that unfolds as a late-season journey through a landscape of dramatic contrasts,
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May 2, 2026
61st Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkiye 2026 🇹🇷 (2.Pro) ME – Stage 7 – Antalya – Antalya : 152,8 km
The Presidential Tour of Turkey is a UCI 2.1 classification that unfolds as a late-season journey through a landscape of dramatic contrasts, where the roads weave between turquoise coastlines, sunbaked plateaus, and timeworn valleys, their surfaces telling stories of endurance. The terrain is a relentless blend of long, undulating climbs and deceptive false flats, with ascents that stretch for kilometers, their gradients steady and unforgiving, designed to sap strength rather than shatter resolve. Along the Aegean coast, the route flattens but never eases, as the wind roars in from the sea, turning the roads into a battleground of crosswinds and echelons, the peloton strung out in a fragile, ever-shifting line. The roads vary from pristine highways to rougher, weathered stretches where the tarmac cracks under the weight of the bikes, the vibrations echoing through the frames. The race typically begins with a measured tempo, the peloton conserving energy for the challenges ahead, but as the days progress, the attacks grow more audacious, the climbs serving as crucibles that whittle the group down to the strongest. The finish often arrives after a sweeping descent or a final, fast drag to the line, where a reduced bunch sprints for victory, or a lone rider who has timed their escape perfectly holds off the chasing pack by a sliver of daylight, the golden light of dusk settling over the road.
Davide Ballerini (XDS-Astana) claimed his first victory in more than three years on stage 7 of the Tour of Turkey, triumphing in the rain on a day that saw certain aspects of the stage neutralised.
There was rain all day in Antalya, location of the start and the finish of Saturday’s 152.8km stage, which, given the relative rarity of rainfall, made the city-centre roads treacherously slippery. That much was clear as early as the opening kilometres, when the riders had to take a slight left-hand bend over a set of tram tracks, and half the peloton ended up on the floor.
In the end, after lengthy mid-race discussions, the race organisers decided to neutralise the final 15km from a general classification perspective, meaning GC times would be taken at that point, just ahead of a descent down into Antalya. In addition, there would be no bonus seconds on offer at the intermediate sprints or the finish line.
As such, Sebastian Berwick’s overall lead was relatively safe from attack, and his closest rival Ivan Sosa drifted off the back of the bunch for an easy run-in.
Although there was no GC battle, that was always likely to be a side-issue on a day expected to end in a bunch sprint, and that eventuality was allowed to play out in full force.
There were a couple of mishaps on the run-in but no crashes, and it was Ballerini who surged up the right-hand side of the road from far back to claim a victory that clearly meant a lot to him, by the way he celebrated.
He was followed across the line by two riders who left it even later. Marceli Boguslawski (ATT Investments) was approaching on the right but couldn’t get there in time, while two-time stage winner Tom Crabbe (Flanders-Baloise) was advancing with even greater speed but started from too far back and had to settle for third place.
Overall, Berwick takes a five-second lead over Sosa into Sunday’s final stage, which is also likely to culminate in a bunch sprint.
Results :
 ME - Stage 7 </strong> - Antalya - Antalya : 152,8 km
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The Presidential Tour of Turkey is a UCI 2.1 classification that unfolds as a late-season journey through a landscape of dramatic contrasts, where the roads weave between turquoise coastlines, sunbaked plateaus, and timeworn valleys, their surfaces telling stories of endurance. The terrain is a relentless blend of long, undulating climbs and deceptive false flats, with ascents that stretch for kilometers, their gradients steady and unforgiving, designed to sap strength rather than shatter resolve. Along the Aegean coast, the route flattens but never eases, as the wind roars in from the sea, turning the roads into a battleground of crosswinds and echelons, the peloton strung out in a fragile, ever-shifting line. The roads vary from pristine highways to rougher, weathered stretches where the tarmac cracks under the weight of the bikes, the vibrations echoing through the frames. The race typically begins with a measured tempo, the peloton conserving energy for the challenges ahead, but as the days progress, the attacks grow more audacious, the climbs serving as crucibles that whittle the group down to the strongest. The finish often arrives after a sweeping descent or a final, fast drag to the line, where a reduced bunch sprints for victory, or a lone rider who has timed their escape perfectly holds off the chasing pack by a sliver of daylight, the golden light of dusk settling over the road.
Davide Ballerini (XDS-Astana) claimed his first victory in more than three years on stage 7 of the Tour of Turkey, triumphing in the rain on a day that saw certain aspects of the stage neutralised.
There was rain all day in Antalya, location of the start and the finish of Saturday's 152.8km stage, which, given the relative rarity of rainfall, made the city-centre roads treacherously slippery. That much was clear as early as the opening kilometres, when the riders had to take a slight left-hand bend over a set of tram tracks, and half the peloton ended up on the floor.
In the end, after lengthy mid-race discussions, the race organisers decided to neutralise the final 15km from a general classification perspective, meaning GC times would be taken at that point, just ahead of a descent down into Antalya. In addition, there would be no bonus seconds on offer at the intermediate sprints or the finish line.
As such, Sebastian Berwick's overall lead was relatively safe from attack, and his closest rival Ivan Sosa drifted off the back of the bunch for an easy run-in.
Although there was no GC battle, that was always likely to be a side-issue on a day expected to end in a bunch sprint, and that eventuality was allowed to play out in full force.
There were a couple of mishaps on the run-in but no crashes, and it was Ballerini who surged up the right-hand side of the road from far back to claim a victory that clearly meant a lot to him, by the way he celebrated.
He was followed across the line by two riders who left it even later. Marceli Boguslawski (ATT Investments) was approaching on the right but couldn't get there in time, while two-time stage winner Tom Crabbe (Flanders-Baloise) was advancing with even greater speed but started from too far back and had to settle for third place.
Overall, Berwick takes a five-second lead over Sosa into Sunday's final stage, which is also likely to culminate in a bunch sprint.
<strong>Results : </strong>
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