A flat tire in the final 10 kilometers wasn’t enough to stop Nikiforos Arvanitou from sprinting to his third UCI victory of the season at Stage 2 of the Tour of Mersin.
Stage 2 of the Tour of Mersin took the peloton 124.2 km from Gülnar to Erdemli on April 10, 2026. The route featured 1273 vertical meters and a technical descent early on, which the team navigated safely. The weather remained clear throughout the day, though crosswinds became a factor in the closing kilometers as the average speed hit 47.505 km/h. Despite a late mechanical scare, Nikiforos Arvanitou claimed the win in a large group sprint, finishing first. Director Sportif Dejan Percic confirmed that the team focused entirely on supporting Niki, while Tomáš Přidal successfully defended his white jersey. Due to the GC leader holding the yellow jersey, Arvanitou will wear the green points jersey tomorrow.
Niki’s assessment about today
Today, everything was under control: the team was reacting to every attack in the final kilometers. We were in a single line through a crosswind section in the last 10 km when I hit a rock with my front wheel and instantly got a puncture. I nearly lost control and almost crashed. I have no idea how I saved it, my chest was already touching the handlebars.
I immediately told my teammates I had a puncture and needed a wheel change. The swap went smoothly thanks to our excellent mechanic (shout:out to Ádám), and I jumped back on the bike quickly. Barni was already waiting for me, and we began chasing the bunch. Luca also dropped back to help us after a while, and with around 3 km to go, we were back in the peloton.
The rest of the team gave me a great lead-out, putting me in the first position through the final corner. I started my sprint immediately at 350 meters out. There was a tailwind, and as I’ve said before, I’m very confident in my long sprint. I crossed the line first to secure my third UCI win of the season. After all that teamwork, I simply couldn’t let the guys down.
Tomorrow, we will ride for Pridal and help him as much as possible. We believe he can bring home a great win.
Luca’s take on the success
Szia! It’s really great to be part of this success. Niki is just unstoppable, though I can’t take much credit for his performance. I’m just happy I can celebrate with him!
There was no proper breakaway today, but everything went according to plan. There was a big, dangerous descent at the beginning where we hit the front perfectly, successfully avoiding the “kamikazes.” 🥹
We also tried to split the bunch in the crosswinds, but the wind wasn’t quite strong enough. Barni, Drakos, and I tried to stay at the front and remain active. Schuri picked up some KOM points, and I even managed to get some intermediate sprint points almost by accident. Around 10km to go, Niki got a puncture. Barni immediately dropped back to bring him up, and then I dropped back to help them as well. We brought him to the front with 3km to go, and then he just did his magic.
It was actually a “good” moment to have a puncture because the attacks had paused for a bit, making it easier to bridge back. The moment we made contact with the peloton, we went straight to the front. Things happened so fast I didn’t realize there were only 3km left: otherwise, I might have worked a bit more, but the boys did a crazy job regardless, nobody could overtake them.
Tomorrow, Pridal will be the main character. We are going to try and win this thing!
Photo: Ozan Yavuz / https://www.instagram.com/ozanyavuzphoto/
