Tour of Türkiye set to kick off along scenic Turkish Riviera

The Tour of Türkiye will kick off Sunday in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir, with hundreds of athletes from across the world set to compete in the eight-day event.

As the only race in Türkiye categorized under ProSeries on the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Europe Tour calendar, the Tour of Türkiye features a course including some of the country's beautiful Mediterranean and Aegean coastal towns, including Izmir, Aydin, Mugla, and Antalya.

Starting in Cesme, Izmir, and ending in the Turkish capital Ankara on May 3, by the end of the race a total of 161 cyclists from 27 countries will have traveled 1,133 kilometers (704 miles) along the Turkish Riviera.

The eight-day tour – the only "intercontinental bicycle tour" in the world – will host 23 teams, including three world tour teams, 14 professional teams, and six continental teams.

"TUR 2026" will be broadcast live internationally on Eurosport and domestically on TRT Spor, showcasing Türkiye's beauty and cycling culture to a global audience.

Last year, Wout Poels of the XDS Astana Team won the 60th edition, followed by Poels' teammate Harold Martin Lopez in second, and Team Picnic PostNL's Guillermo Juan Martinez in third.

Leader jerseys

Cyclists who complete the tour in the shortest overall time, along with those leading in sprint points on each stage, will wear four different colored jerseys.

The leaders will be identified as follows: the turquoise jersey for the general individual classification leader, green for the best sprinter, white for the leader of beauties of Türkiye sprint primes, and red for the best climber, aka the "King of the Mountains."

Distinguished history

Traditionally organized by the Turkish Cycling Federation, the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey started in 1963 as the Marmara Tour. It gained international status for the first time in 1965 and the next year was put under presidential auspices.

The Tour of Türkiye was upgraded to the 2.1 category by the International Cycling Union (UCI) in 2008 and to Hors Category (2. HC) in 2010.

Beginning in 2017, the tour was included in the UCI World Tour calendar for three years. Suspended in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the race was included in the newly created UCI ProSeries in 2021 and 2022.

In 2023, it was held under the UCI Europe Tour 2.1 race and in 2024 it returned to the Pro Series races.

Considered one of world cycling's most prestigious events, this year's Presidential Cycling Tour of Türkiye will be its 61st edition.

Top winners

Riders with the most stage wins in the Tour of Türkiye:

Cyclist Country Number of stage wins

1 Andre Greipel Germany 11

2 Mark Cavendish Great Britain 11

3 Sam Bennett Ireland 9

4 Jasper Philipsen Belgium 7

5 Svetoslav Tchanliev Bulgaria 6

Tour route

Stage 1: (April 26) Çeşme-Selçuk, 148.7 km

Stage 2: (April 27) Aydın-Marmaris, 152.8 km

Stage 3: (April 28) Marmaris-Kiran, 132.7 km

Stage 4: (April 29) Marmaris-Fethiye, 130.4 km

Stage 5: (April 30) ancient city of Patara-Kemer, 180.7 km

Stage 6: (May 1 ) Antalya-Feslikan, 127.9 km

Stage 7: (May 2) Antalya-Antalya, 152.8 km

Stage 8: (May 3) Ankara-Ankara, 105.2 km