Gökçe Demirsoy successfully defended her L’Étape Türkiye by Tour de France title on Sunday 20 September 2026, while Ömer Cumhur Boyraz won the men’s title by one second.
Organizers reported 1,822 riders from 23 countries at the Tour de France’s official amateur series event, which started and finished in Ümraniye and crossed between Asia and Europe. The third edition featured courses of 97.6 kilometres, 41.3 kilometres and 31.4 kilometres for the Long Course, Short Course and Intercontinental Experience, respectively. Four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome, visiting Istanbul for the first time, joined the amateur peloton after announcing his retirement in July.
Demirsoy took the women’s Long Course win in 02:57:03, 4 minutes 30 seconds ahead of Züleyha Dikbaş. Şeniz Pamuk placed third, 5 minutes 53 seconds back, and won the women’s climbing jersey. Demirsoy now owns three L’Étape yellow champion’s jerseys following her 2024 short-course and 2025 long-course wins.
Boyraz, who won Gran Fondo Başkent in Ankara in August, finished the Long Course in 02:35:31. Bulgarians Martin Stefanov and Petar Dashev were just a second behind to claim second and third place, with Dashev also taking the polka-dot climber’s jersey. Chris Froome finished 24th in 2:42:12.
On the 41.3-kilometre Short Course, Recep Ünalan led a five-rider sprint finish in 01:03:09, with Cengiz Güner and Murat Uslu falling just shy of victory. Aylin Yüce won the women’s race in 01:07:34, 8 minutes 36 seconds ahead of Zale Karakaş. Erkan Güngör won the men’s green jersey and Lev Kocherov the white jersey for the best under-25 rider.
View L’Etape Türkiye results HERE
Photo Credit: L’Etape Series by Tour de France
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