Lotto Soudal had a dominant showing during stage 3 of the Tour of Turkey after putting six riders in the eight-man winning breakaway and taking the stage victory with Andre Greipel.
It was a triumphant moment for the German sprinter, who added his 11th stage win to his Tour of Turkey highlights, but he was more impressed with his teammate Kris Boeckmans, who placed third on the day and showed phenomenal recovery from a horrific crash at the Vuelta a Espana last year.
“The team performance was quite impressive,” Greipel said in a team press release. “It would have been nice as well if one of the teammates had won. Kris Boeckmans deserved it for sure as it was so impressive that he was part of the front group. It would have been emotional if he had won, but we stuck to the plan and I did the sprint.”
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Boeckmans crashed during stage 8 at the Vuelta a Espana last year after hitting pothole while taking a drink from his water bottle. Doctors placed him in a medically induced coma for more than a week. His injuries included a concussion, severe facial trauma, broken ribs and bleeding in his lung. He later revealed that he almost died six times in a report on Nieuwsblad.nl.
After a rehabilitation period of six months, he returned to racing at the Handzame Classic on March 18. He also raced at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya and Scheldeprijs before starting the Tour of Turkey.
Boeckmans and Greipel were among the six Lotto Soudal riders and two Team Roth riders that split off the front of stage 3 through strong crosswinds when echelons were forming.
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