Having returned to winning ways this year after a long absence when he clocked up victory in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Luca Paolini has renewed motivation at 36 years of age. Also fifth in Milan Sanremo and eighth in the E3 Harelbeke, the Katusha rider has just been confirmed as spearheading the Katusha team in the upcoming Presidential Tour of Turkey.
Starting on Sunday in Alanya and running for eight days, the race will feature a mix of mountainous, rolling and flat stages and will offer Paolini the chance to add more results to his palmares.
"After a necessary break to recover from my efforts in the Classics, I asked to take part in the Tour of Turkey in order to return to competitive pace,” he said. “But another reason led me to make this request.
“In the last few years, I’ve heard about Turkey a lot from my team-mates, my opponents and team staff. Everybody says it's a well organized race giving the opportunity to discover sights that really deserve to be seen. I really can't wait to ride across the beauties of a country which I unfortunately know too little about.”
This year’s race will include many such sights, including the addition to the route of Selcuk. The ancient Greek city of Ephesus is located there, together with an old house claimed to have sheltered the Virgin Mary towards the end of her life.
The remainder of the team is yet to be announced, but one who will be joining Paolini is the 23 year old Alexey Tsatevitch. The Russian rider clocked up five top ten stage finishes in the 2012 Presidential Tour of Turkey and this year won Le Samyn.
Paolini wants to guide riders like Tsatevitch, and said that is a factor. “It's another reason why I'm coming to the Tour of Turkey. In our team are some great hopes of Russian cycling who still have a lot to learn.”
In ways he is taking the place of Oscar Freire, who also played a mentoring role until his retirement at the end of last season.
The Presidential Tour of Turkey begins in four day’s time and will feature several WorldTour teams and well known names such as Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol), Marcel Kittel (Argos Shimano), Cameron Meyer (Orica GreenEdge) and others.
More teams have yet to be announced for the 2.HC event, and will be revealed in the days ahead.