April 29, 2012 (Istanbul, Turkey) – Will Routley of Team SpiderTech powered by C10 finished in tenth place as the eight-day 2012 Presidential Tour of Turkey came to an end. The last day of racing in Turkey was held in Istanbul, in one of the world’s most historically important cities.

Routley rode conservatively and safely on this last day of competition that ended in a peloton sprint. Routley pulled off the Top 10 during Stage 3, where he rose to the occasion on a massive climb to the finish. Since then, Routley held on his general classification standings by staying safely within the peloton with the remaining stages finishing in bunch sprints.

Today, the team wanted to protect Routley’s standings, and set up sprinter Martin Gilbert for a potential stage win. However, Gilbert punctured with eight kilometres to go, a set-back that took him out of contention.

However, the team was able to protect Routley, notably thanks to great support for teammates Pat McCarty, Hugo Houle and Simon Lambert-Lemay.

“The boys were awesome today,” said Routley, 28, from Whistler, British Columbia. “They really rallied around me to keep me safe and protected all day. I’ve never been able to ride that comfortable in a large group inside the final 20km before the finish line.”

The tenth place by Routley just one sign that Team SpiderTech is growing step-by-step and building stronger in Europe.

Steve Bauer, co-founder and owner of Team SpiderTech, was pleased with the efforts and sees positives from this race. “The summit finish on the third stage was tough–it doesn’t get much harder. For Will to ride Top 10 in that stage and then go on to defend his position for five more days is a real turning point for our program. We continue to show that with strong backing from committed partners like SpiderTech and our C10 consortium, we can race with the world’s best.”

The overall race was won by Ivaïlo Gabrovski of continental team Konya Torku Seker Spor. Gabrovski rode an amazing climb on the third stage, and protected his lead since then. Alexandr Dyachenko of Astana Pro Team came in second, followed by Danail Andonov Petrov of pro-continental team Caja Rural.

Team SpiderTech now will come back to North America and prepare for the 2012 Amgen Tour of California, another prominent stage race held May 13-20.

Results (brief)

1. Theo Bos (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team    2:32:35
2. Andrew Fenn (Gbr) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
3. Stefan Van Dijk (Ned) Accent Jobs-Willems Veranda’s
4. Andrea Guardini (Ita) Farnese Vini-Selle Italia
5. Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) Team Europcar
6. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-SD
7. Robert Förster (Ger) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
8. Juan Jose Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank
9. Daniele Colli (Ita) Team Type 1-Sanofi
10. Jonas Vangenechten (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team

Final GC

1. Ivaïlo Gabrovski (Bul) Konya Torku Seker Spor    28:48:10
2. Alexandr Dyachenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team    1:33
3. Danail Andonov Petrov (Bul) Caja Rural    1:38
4. Adrian Palomares Villaplana (Esp) Andalucia    1:44
5. Romain Bardet (Fra) Ag2r La Mondiale    2:01
6. Alexander Efimkin (Rus) Team Type 1-Sanofi    2:23
7. Florian Guillou (Fra) Bretagne-Schuller    2:29
8. Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Colnago-CSF Inox    2:58
9. Michal Golas (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step    3:02
10. Will Routley (Can) SpiderTech powered by C10 3:14