DIDIM will not feature in this year’s Presidential Tour of Cycling, or Tour of Turkey, it has been revealed.

Instead, the 21 teams and 168 riders competing in this year’s 50th edition of the Presidential Tour of Cycling will skirt the town in the Stage 6 heat when it runs between Bodrum and Selcuk.

The route will remain on the main Bodrum-Milas-Soke highway, passing Bafa Lake and then going through Soke and on to Selcuk.

The 50th Tour of Turkey will be run between April 27 and May 4. During the official announcement, five cyclists, who participated in the inaugural tour also took the stage.

In this year’s edition, Torku Konyaspor will represent Turkey, while Astana, OmegaPharma-Quick Step, Lampre-Merida, Lotto-Belisol are among the bill. 

The eight-stage race will span a 1,254km route, starting from the Mediterranean district of Alanya and finishing in Istanbul. The journey will follow the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts on the first seven stages, from Alanya to İzmir.

After transferring the teams from İzmir to Istanbul by air, the tour, dubbed “the world’s only intercontinental cycling stage race” will witness its traditional finish in Istanbul on May 4.

Turkish President Abdullah Gül celebrated the milestone of the tour, saying: “It will be an organization worthy of the silver jubilee.” 

Turkish Cycling Federation chairman Emin Müftüoğlu praised the route of the tour, which is dubbed as “the only intercontinental cycling race in the world.” 

“For one week, we will have Turkey’s beauties broadcast on all over the world,” Müftüoğlu said.

The tour will try to make a clean break after two years of doping troubles. Last year, Turkey’s Mustafa Sayar won the tour but was then stripped of his title after testing positive for banned substances.