Diego Ulissi wins Tour of Turkey climbing stage to take overall race lead (video)

Diego Ulissi rides to victory in Stage 4 of the Tour of Turkey! 🚴💨

The Italian moves to the top of the GC! #TUR2017 pic.twitter.com/2k0Vk117SX

— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) October 13, 2017

Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) thoroughly lived up to expectation on stage four of the 2017 Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey, winning the stage and taking the overall race lead.

The long 205.3-kilometre stage featured a summit finish after three relatively flat days, giving the general classification hopefuls their first chance to shine.

Ulissi started the day in fifth place overall, having already signalled his GC intentions in previous stages by claiming valuable bonus seconds during intermediate sprints.

UAE put their efforts behind Ulissi throughout the day, riding at the front of the bunch to pull back the remnants of an escape group with 39km to go and then having Przemyslaw Niemiec and Darwin Atapuma work for him as the race hit the final climb.

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In the event, the Italian did not need a time buffer, as he accelerated away from Jesper Hansen (Astana) and Daniel Martinez (Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia) in the final kilometre. Hansen had to settle for second at five seconds, with Martinez in third a further four seconds adrift.

It's Ulissi's second WorldTour win of the season, after he won the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal in September.

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Having won the opening three stages of the race, Irish sprinter Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) relinquished the race lead to Ulissi.

Ulissi sits 12 seconds ahead of Hansen overall, with Fausto Masnada (Androni-Sidermec-Bottecchia) in third at 24 seconds.

There's more climbing ahead in the Tour of Turkey, with Saturday's penultimate stage featuring two categorised climbs, the last of which is within the final 30km. The WorldTour-level race concludes on Sunday.

Result

Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey 2017, stage four: Marmaris to Selçuk, 205.3km

1. Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates, in 5-36-03

2. Jesper Hansen (Den) Astana, at 5 secs

3. Daniel Martinez (Col) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia, at 9 secs

4. Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni-Sidermec-Bottecchia, at 11 secs

5. Yonder Godoy (Ven) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia, at 17 secs

6. Ildar Arslanov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo, at same time

7. Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Androni-Sidermec-Bottecchia, at 32 secs

8. Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe, at same time

9. Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) UAE Team Emirates, at 34 secs

10. Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana, at 37 secs

General classification after stage four

1. Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates, in 19-00-50

2. Jesper Hansen (Den) Astana, at 12 secs

3. Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni-Sidermec-Bottecchia, at 24 secs

4. Daniel Martinez (Col) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia, at 29 secs

5. Yonder Godoy (Ven) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia, at 30 secs

6. Ildar Arslanov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo, at 30 secs

7. Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Androni-Sidermec-Bottecchia, at 42 secs

8. Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 45 secs

9. Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) UAE Team Emirates, at 47 secs

10. Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana, at 50 secs