Israel - Premier Tech's
Patrick Bevin has had a long and successful career, however only today did he conquer his first overall classification. In an impressive performance at the
Tour of Turkey, the Kiwi has been the most complete rider and took an important win for him and the team.
After taking over the race lead on the seventh stage, he was set to defend it today as the peloton headed into Istanbul. However, the stage ended up cancelled due to bad weather conditions, hence confirming him as the race winner: “Everyone is a little bit disappointed about canceling the stage: it would have been great to race through such a beautiful city, but it was an important decision to make for the safety of the riders.”
After a strong performance to second place on the queen stage at Spil Milli Park, he was in a strong position for the overall, and on the hilly seventh stage he attacked together with Jay Vine and Nicolas Edet, distancing former race leader Eduardo Sepúlveda in what ended up being the final day of racing.
“I am proud to be this year’s winner of the Tour of Turkey," he concluded. Israel - Premier Tech are in a severe need for UCI points, sitting 19th in the rankings in the most recent update. This however was more severe as, as it stood Israel would not even receive automatic wildcards for the coming season. This win from Bevin will have brought an additional 200 points which will keep their hopes alive.
