Dubai, UAE, October 09, 2018:  UAE Team Emirates will be looking to defend their Tour of Turkey title this year with Italian, Diego Ulissi once again leading the charge for the Emirati team. Ulissi will look to capture the victory and show why the team has decided to renew his contract for another two years (2019-2020). He will be the beacon for the team in the six stages of this World Tour race, taking place from 9 to 14 October.

 

Joining Ulissi will be teammates: Anass Ait El Abdia (Morocco), Simone Consonni (Italy), Valerio Conti (Italy), Kristijan Durasek (Croatia), Vegard Stake Laengen (Norway) and Przemyslaw Niemiec (Poland). The riders will be guided through the race by Sports Directors Marco Marzano and Simone Pedrazzini. 

 

Commenting ahead of the race, Diego Ulissi said: “I have fantastic memories of the last edition of the Tour of Turkey: I made the most of the top form I was in, on a very interesting route that was suited to my skills. This year’s route won’t be much different than 2017’s; the stage in Selçuk, on the fourth day of the race, will still be the crucial fraction for the general classification.  As always, in every stage we will have to pay attention to the wind, which could break up the group. UAE Team Emirates will be well equipped, with a good group of climbers, including Kristijan Durasek, who won in 2015; he will be a very important figure for us in this race.”

 

Reflecting on his contract renewal, Ulissi added: I’m very happy about the contract renewal. It would be lovely, for the team and for me, to close out the season well, with a prestigious result, but I am aware of the fact that the competition will be even tougher than last year.” 

 

The Tour of Turkey will also mark the last race in the career of Przemyslaw Niemiec. The Polish rider, who made it to sixth place in the 2013 Giro d’Italia, picked up the latest of his 15 career successes in Turkey – the Istanbul stage in 2016. UAE Team Emirates would like to issue a big thanks to Przemyslaw on behalf of the General Manager Giuseppe Saronni and the entire team for the professionalism and camaraderie that always set him apart.