Global Riders to Watch: Tour of Türkiye 2022

Some of the biggest riders in the world are in Turkey over the next week. Top sprinters like Caleb Ewan, Jasper Philipsen and Sam Bennett will compete over a number of flatter stages. Nairo Quintana is here to test himself on the summit finish at Spil Milli Park on stage 4.

With them are some very talented young Turkish riders and a bunch of others from all around the world, all hoping to make their mark. We will start by looking at some of the home riders.

Ahmet Örken

29, Turkey, Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling

Örken has been one of the top Turkish cyclists for a few years now. He joins a new team this year in Wildlife Generation but has continued to race mostly in Turkey.

Örken was good here last year, claiming top-10s in the final two stages. He will hope to continue that this year in the sprint stages. The sprint level is a bit higher his year though so he will have to be on top form.

Halil Dogan

21, Turkey, Bike Aid

Dogan has enjoyed a solid start to his time with Bike Aid. He raced well in Antalya, spending some time in breakaways. He had his first top-10 of the season a couple of weeks ago in the hilly GP Gündogmus.

Dogan is an exciting rider for Turkish fans to get behind. An aggressive climber who we are likely to see on the attack this week. Hopefully he continues his good start to the year.

Samet Bulut

19, Turkey, Spor Toto Cycling Team

Another good young Turkish rider, this race is full of them. They are a nation which is developing quickly.

Bulut has a couple of wins this season in early national level races, but he impressed in the hilly races in the Alanya series of races.

At just 19, Bulut has a great chance of making it as a pro. This week is all about experience. It's his first time racing against the World Tour. Let's see how he goes.

Hopefully he also gets some chances to race some under 23 races this year.

Onur Balkan

26, Turkey, Sakarya BB Pro Team

The Turkish champion is a rapid sprinter. He has two wins already this season at the Tour of Sharjah and GP Gazipasa. He's very quick at that level, it will be interesting to see how he goes against the likes of Ewan and Bennett!

He will have some good support this week, expect his team to punch above their weight in the lead-outs. Kononenko and Özgür are very quick.

Itamar Einhorn

24, Israel, Israel-Premier Tech

Einhorn had a fantastic breakthrough win last year, beating Sagan and others in the final stage of Okolo Slovenska. He also recorded many other top-10s at big races, including the Vuelta. He is Israel's shining light in the peloton.

He's had a slower start this season, his best result has been 17th at Milano Torino. He has struggled after crashing out of Bessèges.

This will be a chance for him to get some solid racing under his belt. There are three or four stages which suit him. If he has built his form, he could be in for a decent result.

Xianjing Lyu

24, China, China Glory Team

This team were definitely one of the more interesting stories from the off-season. The new China Glory team picked up a stack of talented riders from the World Tour and Pro Teams who otherwise were going to have to find other employment.

They also give a few Chinese riders an opportunity to ride big races. Xianjing Lyu hasn't ridden a UCI road race since 2019, but he clearly has bags of talent. Maybe more than almost any other Chinese rider. He's a good mountain-biker, winning the under 23 Asian continental championships in 2020 by  a big margin. On the road, he won the Tour of China and stage of Quanzhou Bay in 2019 as well as being 2nd at the Asian Conti Champs in a two-up sprint with Yevgeniy Gidich. These are very impressive results when you consider that he was just 21.

What can he do in this race? Who knows? He could be anonymous, or he could be a revelation.

Dawit Yemane

24, Eritrea, Bike Aid

Yemane signed for Bike Aid just in the second half of last season. The Eritrean champion rode some big races and was solid. Now is the time for him to step up and it's good to see him getting the opportunity to ride here.

Dawit started his season at the African Conti Champs, playing a key role in winning the TTT.  He was just outside the medals in the ITT and put a solid performance in to help Mulubrhan win the road race.

We've seen him be successful in breakaways in the African UCI races in the past and this is probably where his strengths are. It would be great to see in get in the early moves this week.

Georgios Boúglas

31, Greece, Spor Toto Cycling Team

A regular on these posts, Georgios hasn't let me down yet. The fast Greek is a really decent sprinter and will hope to crack some top-5s this week on the flatter stages.

He's had a decent start to the year with four top-10s including 4th at GP Gazipasa. He can hang on over a few climbs as well as he proved at the South Aegean Tour.

Nícolas Sessler

27, Brazil, Global 6 Cycling

Nico made an army of new fans at last year's Tour of Britain. He put in a string of brilliant breakaway performances. It's great to see him get another opportunity to ride a big race here.

He can be expected to ride a similar race here. There should be lots of opportunity for him to use his attacking style. Hopefully he can have a good crack at the climber's jersey.

Cristian Raileanu

29, Moldova, Sakarya BB Pro Team

Raileanu disappointed a bit in Antalya two months ago. The level of competition there should have meant that he would be able to compete for a good GC position. Instead he was 66th overall. He continued to struggle in the races immediately after, but showed a slight up-turn in form with 16th at GP Gündogmus.

Raileanu  is a very capable climber and if his form is improving, he should be able to put in a decent ride on this parcours.

Elchin Asadov

35, Azerbaijan, Sakarya BB Pro Team

The experience Azeri has enjoyed a decent start to the season, racing Sharjah and the Velo Alanya races with four top-20 results along the way.

This will be his fourth Tour of Türkiye. He knows how to ride these races in Turkey. Hopefully we will see him in a breakaway this week.

Vojtêch Repa

21, Czech Republic, Equipo Kern Pharma

The Czech is a talent. One of the underrated under 23 talents in Europe. Repa won the Tour of Malopolska in 2020 at just 19 years-old ahead of a very good field. The same year, he was 3rd in the European Championships under 23s, surrounded by riders who are now reaching the top of the sport.

He is a very good climber and will look to show that this week. It would be intriguing to see him test himself against the big boys on the summit finish.

Mykhalo Kononenko

34, Ukraine, Sakarya BB Pro Team

The fourth Sakarya rider to be mentioned here. Expect them to be active this week.

The experienced Ukrainian has been on Conti teams since 2007. Kononenko has 30 career UCI wins including stages at Qinghai Lake, Baltic Chain and Fuzhou. He's a strong rider with a good sprint and is in good form already this year. He was 2nd at the recent GP Manavgat.

Expect Kononenko to play a strong team role this week, possibly getting in some breakaways and helping Balkan in the sprints.

Serghei Tvetcov

33, Romania, Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling

Serghei has been the top Romanian cyclist around for a while now. He loves the climbs and will test himself against some top climbers here.

He has had a stunted start to the year. He pulled out of Antalya after one stage and didn't manage to pick up a result in the following races.

An in-form Tvetcov would be competing for a top-5 on GC in this race. Hopefully we see the best of him but it doesn't look too likely.