Gabrovski destroys field on stage three in Turkey

The Bulgarian rider's relentless progress up the steep final climb left the field far behind, giving him victory by an astonishing one minute 26 seconds from second-placed Alexandr Dyachenko (Astana).

Gabrovkski's fellow Bulgarian Danail Andonov Petrov (Caja Rural) was third.

The stage winner's vast gap over the field in the 152km stage earned him a lead of one minute 33 seconds in the general classification.

“We had marked down this stage and as I’m a reasonably good climber, I was the one to go,” he said.

“I decided to try my luck eight or nine kilometres from the finish line as I knew the others would not move before the final three kilometres, which were steeper. I gave it my all, never looked back but I was still very surprised to gain time on the chasers in the climb.”

On Wednesday, the riders will contest a 132km stage between Fethiye and Marmaris.

The Tour of Turkey has eight stages. The race finishes with a stage in Istanbul on Sunday.