The first leg of the 56th Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey, which was lent communication and broadcast infrastructure support by Türksat, kicked off in Konya. Arvid de Kleijn from the Rally team won the first stage of the tour, in which 172 cyclists from 25 teams participated.
Presidency of Administrative Affairs President Metin Kıratlı, Youth and Sports Minister Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoğlu, Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum along with Konya Governor Vahdettin Özkan kicked off the first stage of the race. 172 cyclists who started from Mevlana Square as part of the 72.4 kilometer 1st leg of the Konya-Konya stage, where Türksat provided frequency and satellite support for the live broadcasts to be broadcasted on Eurosport, completed the track at Kültür Park. Arvid de Kleijn from the Rally team finished the race in first place with a time of 1 hour 35 minutes and 38 seconds. Norwegian Kristoffer Halvorsen from Norway’s UNO-X Pro team placed second and French Pierre Barbier from France’s Delko team came in third during the first stage of the race.
After the completion of the first stage of the race in Konya, during the award ceremony held at Kültür Park, written messages from Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Vice President Fuat Oktay congratulating the athletes on their success were read aloud. Youth and Sports Minister Kasapoğlu presented the first place award to Dutch Arvid de Kleijn from the Rally team.