Italian cyclist wins Tour of Turkey's seventh stage

Italian team Lampre-Merida cyclist Sacha Modolo won the seventh stage of the 52nd Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey Saturday, according to results posted on the tour's official website.

Modolo completed the stage as leader in three hours, 15 minutes and 15 seconds.

Another Italian Manuel Belletti, who represented the Southeast Venezuela team took the runner-up spot, while the Dutch Parkhotel Valkenburg Continental team cyclist Marco Zanotti came in third.

Turkish team Torku Sekerspor cyclist Ahmet Orken finished the stage on the seventh spot.

The seventh stage of the tour was held in southwestern Mugla province, between its two districts, Fethiye and Marmaris, along Turkey's Mediterranean coast.

A total of 99 athletes participated in the competition's 128.6-kilometer (80-mile) long seventh stage.

The tour's eighth and final stage, which is 203.2-kilometer (126-mile) long, will start in Marmaris and end in western Izmir province's Selcuk district Sunday.

A total of 128 cyclists from 16 teams are competing in the eight-stage tour, covering some 1,266 kilometers (786.6 miles).

The contest, which began on April 24, is organized by the Turkish Cycling Federation.

The Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey started in 1963 as the Marmara Tour and gained an international status for the first time in 1965.