President Erdoğan to pedal in cycling race

Turkish President Recep Tayyıp Erdoğan will ride a bicycle on Saturday, April 18, during a promotional event befor the 51st Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey, which is scheduled to roll at the end of April.

The Presidential Cycling tour of Turkey, or TUR in short, organized under the auspices of the Presidency of the Turkish Republic, will run over eight days between April 26 and May 3, 2015.

The TUR which will enter its second half-century this year, and an international peloton of the highest order will join the celebrations at the seaside resort of Alanya, on Turkey's southern coast, where the first of the eight stages begins on April 26.

President Erdoğan is scheduled to pedal on April 18, during the tour's promotional event. He is scheduled to ride a specially-produced cycle based on a model used by a world cycling champion.

“The specialty of the cycle to be used by the president is it has the same features as world champion Fabrice Mels' cycle," said Bayrma Akgül, a board member of Salcano Bicycles, who is a sponsor of the TUR.

Akgül said that Erdoğan's cycle which carries his name, has 20 gears, hydraulic breaks and a carbon body.

“The presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey is one of the very nice organization of Turkey. We are very proud to be a part of this Tour," Akgül said.

The TUR 2015 will host a total of 21 teams: five teams from Italy, four from Belgium, two from Australia and the United States and one each from Colombia, France, Kazakhstan, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain and the host nation, Turkey.

The teams confirmed to participate include six WorldTour teams, 14 ProContinental teams and one Continental team.

The TUR will start in Alanya and travel to İzmir, with seven mountain and sprint stages, ending with a final stage in Istanbul on May 3.

The Bosphorus Bridge will be crossed twice during this stage of the intercontinental race in Istanbul this year.