Alexey Lutsenko of Astana Pro Team claimed victory on the hilltop finish at Selcuk on stage 4 of the 2018 Tour of Turkey, getting the better of Diego Ulissi in the final dash to the line, with Nicolas Roche taking fifth to leapfrog Sam Bennett on the general classification.
With bonuses of ten, six, and four seconds on the line for the top three, Lutsenko also took the overall lead of
the race, as Bora-Hansgrohe rider Bennett and the other sprinters who had been up at the top of the GC were dropped early on the final climb.
Ulissi is second overall, trailing Lutsenko by four seconds, with Tipperary man Bennett now down in 97th place in the GC, over 11 minutes down.
Bennett is however still leading the Points Classification.
With two flatter stages to come, Lutsenko is in the driving seat, though the small gaps mean the overall title could come into play in the intermediate sprints and on the tricky finale in Istanbul on Sunday.
This stage, though, was the only obvious GC battleground, with the familiar finish up at Selcuk by the House of the Virgin Mary.
It was a really good day for BMC Racing's Roche. He's now tenth overall. This was a stage he'd targeted before the Tour, relishing the chance to take on the uphill finish.
His team had earmarked the Irishman for this one and though he delivered a strong display, Roche was disappointed.
"I was trying to cover attacks but also save some legs for the finale," he said.
"In the end, I was boxed in with about 250 meters to go so fifth was the best result I could do.
"I’m feeling pretty good now. I was really tired for about two weeks after the Vuelta a Espana but I always seem to do a good month in October every year. The only way to move up on GC now is to go for the sprints so we will see what happens in the next two days."
#TUR2018 What a finish! Lutsenko takes the win and @nicholasroche is our best-placed rider in fifth place. @FrankinyKilian and @brentbookwalter were also up there in 10th and 11th respectively. pic.twitter.com/Riz9AjBUCb
— BMC Racing Team (@BMCProTeam) October 12, 2018
