Diego Ulissi wraps up race win, Edward Theuns takes finale

After a week of runner-up results, Belgian Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo) was able to cash in on a stage win after Sam Bennett crashed in the final turn heading toward the finish with less than 300 metres to go.

Theuns took advantage of the Irishman’s rare bad luck on the slippery cobbles in Old Town Istanbul to take his second win of the season, which also includes a stage win at the BinckBank Tour in August.

“The team did a great job of putting me in the front, like they did all week,” Theuns told Eurosport. “We came here with some good leadout guys and they put me in the perfect position.

“We took the corner and I was in the first five,” explained the final points classification leader after he lifted the green jersey from Bennet with the win. “The other guys started hesitating and I just went full from the bottom.

“I expected the climb to be a little bit harder. We were on top of the little climb, and I looked back and saw we had a little gap.

“I was a bit surprised Bennett took over so I am really thankful for that. He passed me inside just before the last corner and I felt he was going pretty fast and he crashed.

“Luckily I could handle my bike the right way and go around him. I saw [Matteo] Pelucchi (Bora-Hansgrohe) didn’t have so much power left and I did so I could take his slipstream.”

Bennett was hoping to claim his fifth victory of the race, but will be forced to settle with four — his 10th of the year.

“The cobbles were slippery and I went into the corner a bit hot,” Bennett told Eurosport, who said he was disappointed with the final result despite dominating four of the six stages of the upgraded WorldTour race. “In reality I should have just should have stayed were I was and came around on the flat, but my ego got the best of me and I wanted to be first in.”

Although general classification was essentially wrapped up the previous day, a stage win was still up for grabs on the 143.7-kilometre course, which rolled out on the Formula One circuit at Istanbul Park and finished in the city’s historic district.

“In my last race for Trek-Segafredo, I think it’s a nice gift to them to finish off,” said Theuns, who has signed a two-year contract with Team Sunweb. “We had a great two years and I am really thankful for the opportunity they gave me, and also for the support I had after my crash at the Tour [de France].

“They supported me to come back to a higher level than I was before, and it is a nice way to thank the team for this."

Italian climber Diego Ulissi, who lifted the turquoise leader’s jersey from Bennett after a masterful queen stage win on Friday, took a 12-second lead over Dane Jesper Hansen (Astana) into the final and finished the race as the champion by the same margin of victory.

“It’s a very important win for me, not least because it’s WorldTour — a one week race,” said the 28-year-old Ulissi, who also owns three other stage race wins at Tour de Slovénie, Coppi e Bartali and Czech Cycling Tour. “I’ve demonstrated physically that I’ve matured a lot in recent years. I’m very happy with what Ive done this year. I’ve taken important victories like [Gand Prix Cyclist de] Montréal and next year I will try to continue this development.”

For full stage and final race results click here.