Modolo gets first season victory in Turkey

Sacha Modolo claimed his first victory of the season with success in Stage 5 of the Tour of Turkey.

Sacha Modolo opens his 2015 account in Turkey (Getty Images)

The Lampre-Merida rider out-sprinted Carlos Barbero Cuesta (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) at the finish in Pamukkale, with late attacker Australia's Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff-Saxo) holding on to finish third.

The three-kilometre uphill slog to the finish saw many of the usual sprint trains - including Orica-GreenEDGE and Etixx-Quick-Step - drop out of contention.

"At the last kilometer I was left behind, I almost crashed twice, I had to start almost at a standstill, but I continued to see people bounce back so I said I couldn’t go wrong," said Modolo.

"Yesterday I ended up on the ground at the foot of the last hill, today I couldn’t throw away another opportunity.”

Race leader Davide Rebellin (CCC Sprandi) finished ninth on the stage to retain the lead. His main rival Kristijan Durasek (Lampre-Merida) was caught out by a late crash allowing the 43-year-old Italian to extend his advantage to 22 seconds.  

The race concludes on Friday with a 184km stage from Denizli to Selçuk which ends with a three kilometre climb where the 2015 Tour of Turkey champion will be crowned.

Stage 5: 160km, Mugla - Pamukkale

1 Sacha Modolo (ITA) Lampre-Merida 4hr 06min 19sec    

2 Carlos Barbero Cuesta (ESP) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA         

3 Jay McCarthy (AUS) Tinkoff-Saxo         

4 Michal Kolár (SVK) Tinkoff-Saxo         

5 Manuel Belletti (ITA) Southeast      

6 Jasper De Buyst (BEL) Lotto Soudal         

7 Eduard Prades Reverte (ESP) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA         

8 Daniele Ratto (ITA) UnitedHealthcare          

9 Davide Rebellin (ITA) CCC Sprandi Polkowice         

10 Pello Bilbao Lopez De Armentia (ESP) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA    

General Classification

1 Davide Rebellin (ITA) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 19hr 42min 08sec    

2 Kristijan Durasek (CRO) Lampre-Merida  0:00:22    

3 Eduardo Sepulveda (ARG) Bretagne-Séché Environnement 0:00:54    

4 Jay Mccarthy (AUS) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:01:20    

5 Serge Pauwels (BEL) MTN-Qhubeka 0:01:38    

6 Enrico Barbin (ITA) Bardiani CSF 0:01:39    

7 Daniele Ratto (ITA) UnitedHealthcare 0:01:42    

8 Alex Cano Ardila (COL) Colombia 0:01:56    

9 Mirko Selvaggi (ITA) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:02:11    

10 Adam Hansen (AUS) Lotto Soudal 0:02:12