Global Riders to Watch: Tour of Antalya 2022

Tour of Antalya 2020

The Tour of Antalya is back after a year away. A real mixed-bag peloton arrives in Turkey, some wanting to build early season form and others hoping to secure a breakthrough result. There are a number of very interesting riders here from different nations, far too many to mention. Here are a few to watch out for this week, starting off with some local talent.

Halil Dogan

21, Turkey, Bike Aid

A new signing for the Bike Aid team, Dogan gets to start off life with his new team at home in Turkey. Halil spent the last three years racing for Turkish Continental Teams meaning that despite his youth, he has already built some good experience. He has already ridden the Tour of Turkey on two occasions. His best result probably came late last year when he finished third on a stage of the Tour of Estonia from a breakaway.

Dogan still seems to be working out exactly what his strengths are as a rider. He certainly likes a breakaway, but also has other strengths.

He'll be highly motivated for this race, it would be great to see him getting in the breakaways when the opportunity presents itself.

Ahmet Örken

28, Turkey, Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling

In 2022, Ahmet Örken should get more opportunities to ride some different races with his new American team.

Örken is a 7-time national ITT champ and has been one of the leading Turkish riders for a few years now. There is lots of talent emerging in Turkey and Örken is the one they all look up to. He is a good all-rounder; a rouler who has a sprint and can get over a lump.

He has won 16 UCI races in his native Turkey throughout his career, but has never won a stage in this race, something he'd love to correct this week. He'll have to be at his best in the sprints or go hunting for a breakaway.

Onur Balkan

25, Turkey, Sakarya BB Pro Team

Turkish champion Onur Balkan comes here full of confidence after a brilliant stage win on the last day of the Tour of Sharjah. Sakarya dominated the peloton on that stage with three riders in the top 6. They certainly won't have it quite so easy at this race, but they will give it a good go.

Balkan has 34 UCI wins in his career, probably the best one coming at the Tour of Qinghai Lake in 2018 where he out-sprinted Luca Pacioni, Brenton Jones and Kaden Groves to take a very good win. He will want to re-find that form here and surprise some of the big sprinters.

Samet Bulut

19, Turkey, Spor Toto Cycling Team

Turkey should be very excited about young Samet Bulut.

Bulut already has two wins this season in local Turkish races, so confidence will be high coming into the biggest race of his career so far.

Last year, Bulut did his first race outside of Turkey at the Tour de Serbia where he was fairly competitive, coming 31st on the final GC but more importantly building valuable experience.

Hopefully we'll see Bulut getting through this race well, even getting in a breakaway if the opportunity presents itself.

Henok Mulubrhan

22, Eritrea, Bike Aid

The man many of us wanted to see riding at a higher level this season. In the end, it wasn't to be. Bike Aid can still give him a strong race programme and he comes here with a great chance of getting a good GC result.

Mulubrhan is a strong climber who has shone in the under 23s over the past two seasons with 11th on GC in the Baby Giro 2020, 7th in Valle d'Aosta 2021 and a number of top results in stages and one day races. For most, this would have been enough to secure a pro contract even with his original team folding.

Here's hoping for a great season for Henok. Many fans would love to see him take the win here overall, a top 10 is probably a more realistic goal.

Georgios Bouglas

31, Greece, Sport Toto Cycling Team

Bouglas has already started his season off well with a top-ten in GP Megasaray. Racing for a Turkish team, he will be very keen to do well in this race.

He had a good season in 2021, winning a stage of the In the Steps of Romans stage race in Bulgaria, placing on the podium in two races in Turkey and picking up a couple more local wins in Greece.

He's a rider who could surprise some of the bigger teams this week. He's very talented, but has rarely had the opportunity to show it in bigger races. If everything goes to plan, he could win a stage with an opportunistic move.

Antti-Jussi Juntunen

22, Finland, ABLOC CT

The new hope for cycling in Finland.

Juntunen had some great results last season with 7th overall in the Tour of Estonia, a stage win in Dookoła Mazowsza and 3rd overall in the Baltic Chain Tour.

He likes a hard race and has a great sprint. Stage 2 looks perfect for him.

Mārtinš Pluto

24, Latvia, ABLOC CT

Another rider from ABLOC CT. Expect to see a lot of them in the next few days.

Pluto has already had some success in Turkey, he rode to 9th place on a stage of the Tour of Turkey last season and had a couple of top-20s in this race in 2019.

We may see Pluto leading out Juntunen this week, but he is also a good sprint option if the team have to change strategies.

Dusan Rajović

24, Serbia, Team Corratec

Dusan Rajović already has a win in 2022. He sprinted to the win in the second stage in the Vuelta al Táchira in Venezuela.

The Serbian national champion has a strong sprint and will love the look of stages 1, 2 and 4. His new team has already helped him to one win this year so confidence will be high. He's expected to be challenging for stages again here.

Karl Patrick Lauk

25, Estonia, Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB

Estonia is a nation on the rise. They now have a number of very good professionals and top talents coming through. After signing his first pro contract, Lauk is now part of the Estonian charge.

A winner of 6 UCI races last season, including the GC at the Tour of Estonia, Bingoal have picked up a great talent. He's a good sprinter who can get over a few hills. He showed this in is stage win at the Tour of Rhodes last year where he beat the likes of Stan Van Tricht and Filippo Fiorelli.

Lauk is free from lead-out duties at this race and gets to sprint for himself. With Mareczko, Lonardi and De Kleijn the biggest sprinters here, there is a great chance for a breakthrough result.

Elchin Asadov

34, Azerbaijan, Sakarya BB Pro Team

The legend of Azerbaijani cycling. Elchin Asadov was the face of Synergy Baku Cycling Project for six years, now he rides mostly in Turkey.

Asadov will be working for his team-mates this week as they search for stage wins and the GC. Hopefully he is allowed to go into a breakaway on one stage.

Cristian Raileanu

29, Moldova, Sakarya BB Pro Team

One rider Asadov is likely to be working for is Cristian Raileanu who has a very realistic chance of getting a decent GC position this week.

Raileanu is a very good climber who will love the look of stage 3. He has already finished second at this race in 2018 and has a good chance to match that here. Jay Vine looks very difficult to beat though.

Jamal Hibatullah

25, Indonesia, Terengganu Polygon Pro Cycling Team

It's great to see Hibatullah getting picked up by Terengganu, talented Indonesian's don't often get the chance to race bigger races.

When he was only 20, Hibatullah finished 6th on GC at the Tour de Singkarak and has also been 14th on GC at the Tour de Langkawi. He gets his chance now to build experience in bigger races, let's hope he progresses well.

Yauheni Karaliok

25, Belarus, Minsk Cycling Club

Yauhen Karaliok is best known for his exploits on the track. He competed in the Omnium at the Olympic Games last year.

As for most trackies, Karaliok transfers is skills onto the road as a very fast sprinter. This was evident at the Five Rings of Moscow last year where he finished 2nd three times, two in sprint stages and one in the prologue. Karaliok won a stage of the Tour of Estonia in 2018 and was second in GP Alanya the year later.

He clearly has some talent for the road as well as the track, we'll have to see if that can materialise into a top result at this race. 

Let’s cheer these riders on in the race!

Who do you think is going to shine at the Tour of Antalya?