Italy speaks on the sixth stage of the Tour of Turkey thanks to Christian Bagatin (MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort) who, once he broke away, resisted the return of the group of favorites on the endless climb of Feslikan, raising his arms to the sky for the first time as a professional.

Also celebrating with him was Sebastian Berwick (Caja Rural Seguros RGA) who, pushing decisively in the final, finished in 2nd place with a 12-second advantage over Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) and former leader Ivan Sosa (Equipo Kern Pharma), overtaking the latter at the top of the standings by 5 seconds. Behind them, finishing in fifth place with a 26-second deficit from the Australian, Kamiel Bonneu (Solution Tech NIPPO Rali) provisionally claimed the third and final podium spot.

THE RACE

With Giovanni Lonardi (Polti VisitMalta), Killian Verschuren (Unibet Rose Rockets) and Brem Deman (Team Flanders - Baloise) not starting, the stage gets off to a sparkling start. Attacks and counterattacks follow in the opening kilometers, which ultimately see Metkel Eyob (Istanbul Team), Feritcan Samli (Spor Toto Cycling Team) and Jonah Killy (Tarteletto - Isorex) break away.

Shortly after, Filippo Cettolin, Santiago Ferraro (Bardiani CSF 7 Saber) and Tim Marsman (Alpecin-Premier Tech) attempt to close the gap, but the reunion fails and after some time spent at a steady pace the peloton catches them. However, the situation doesn't calm down at all because soon eleven riders (Levo Gonov from XDS Astana, Sente Sentjens, Jonas Rickaert and Tim Marsman from Alpecin-Premier Tech, Javier Ibanez from Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, Xabier Isasa from Euskaltel-Euskadi, Ferre Geeraerts from Flanders Baloise, Christian Bagatin and Barnabas Peak from MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort, Zeno Moonen from Tartelletto-Isorex and Santiago Ferraro) launch a successful counterattack, this time managing to rejoin the leaders at the front. Not representing a threat to the general classification leader Sosa, the 14 riders gain up to 6'20", thus managing not only to take both intermediate sprints (won by Samli and Moonen), but also to approach the final 21-kilometer climb comfortably in the lead.

Here, on the initial slopes, among the attackers Samli, Isasa and Bagatin immediately push hard, with Bagatin subsequently, at 17.5 km from the summit, going solo at the front. Behind, meanwhile, TotalEnergies takes control at the head of the peloton, and with the group of favorites thinned out, attacks with Fabien Doubey. The Frenchman, controlled at a distance by Berwick's Caja Rural train, doesn't create huge gaps, but entering the final 6 kilometers, he becomes Bagatin's first pursuer who, at the 5 km mark, still holds a 3-minute advantage over the Frenchman and 3'20" over the group of favorites.

At 3 km to go, Doubey is caught by the group from which, with a 2'30" deficit to Bagatin, 400 meters later Berwick attacks. The move triggers a reaction from Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) who in turn raises the pace, followed closely by the Turkish jersey wearer Sosa. All the other contenders for the top positions struggle more, from Fancellu to Bonneu, unable to match the Australian's rhythm who, like three days ago, puts on a magnificent final but, once again, it's not enough to secure the stage victory. In the final kilometer, in fact, Bagatin still holds more than a minute and a half, and this advantage is enough for the Italian to record his first professional victory.

Berwick, appearing very exhausted after the finish line, can at least console himself with the new Turkish jersey which, however, despite the last two stages being designed for sprinters and not complicated from an altimetric point of view, is not yet secured given the minimal gap over Sosa and, above all, the notorious unpredictability of modern cycling.

FINISHING ORDER

1. Christian Bagatin (ITA/MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort) - 3:23:12

2. Sebastian Berwick (AUS/Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) at 1:01

3. Jordan Jegat (FRA/TotalEnergies) at 1:13

4. Iván Ramiro Sosa (COL/Equipo Kern Pharma) at 1:13

5. Kamiel Bonneu (BEL/Solution Tech NIPPO Rali) at 1:27

6. Jon Agirre (SPA/Euskaltel-Euskadi) at 1:45

7. Mikel Bizkarra (SPA/Euskaltel-Euskadi) at 1:48

8. Darren van Bekkum (NED/XDS-Astana) at 1:52

9. Alessandro Fancellu (ITA/MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort) at 1:54

10. Henok Mulubrhan (ERI/XDS Astana) at 2:01

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Sebastian Berwick (AUS/Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) - 21:03:03

2. Iván Ramiro Sosa (COL/Equipo Kern Pharma) at 0:05

3. Kamiel Bonneu (BEL/Solution Tech NIPPO Rali) at 0:59

4. Jordan Jegat (FRA/TotalEnergies) at 1:05

5. Nicolas Breuillard (FRA/TotalEnergies) at 1:14

6. Alessandro Fancellu (ITA/MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort) at 1:20

7. Mikel Bizkarra (SPA/Euskaltel-Euskadi) at 1:47

8. Henok Mulubrhan (ERI/XDS Astana) at 1:53

9. Ibón Ruiz (SPA/Equipo Kern Pharma) at 2:17

10. José Félix Parra (SPA/Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) at 2:37

OTHER CLASSIFICATIONS

Points Classification: Tom Crabbe (BEL/Flanders-Baloise)

Mountain Classification: Sebastian Berwick (AUS/Caja Rural-Seguros RGA)

Team Classification: XDS Astana (KAZ)