Lonardi on the podium again and wins the points classification in Turkey, Polti VisitMalta third-best team

Second podium and fourth overall top-10 in this Presidential Cycling Tour of Türkiye for Giovanni Lonardi, who finishes 3rd in a great seaside sprint behind Malucelli (Astana) and Kristoff (Uno X) sealing his victory in the points classification!

A ten-men breakaway formed on the gentle ups and downs of the first half of the stage, kept under control by the peloton — not without difficulty — and reeled in with 3.5 km to go thanks also to the strong work of Fernando Tercero and Mirco Maestri. While Pablo García and Diego Sevilla completed their task of protecting Germán Gómez, 6th in the final GC, Manuel Peñalver led out the Italian sprinter of Polti VisitMalta in the last kilometre. A perfect effort that becomes even more evident with the squad’s 3rd place in the team classification.

Lonardi: “Bringing home one of the distinctive jerseys is a source of pride and visibility for both myself and the whole team. We raced with determination from start to finish — only the win was missing, and that’s something we’ll keep chasing.”

Sports director Giovanni Ellena: “The guys were great as always. Closing the gap to the breakaway was no easy task, especially with Del Grosso (Alpecin) up front threatening our green jersey. We defended the lead successfully and scored another strong result — a good sign ahead of the Giro d’Italia.”