site.btaUPDATED Italian Matteo Malucelli Wins 71st International Cycling Tour of Bulgaria

Italian Matteo Malucelli of Japan’s JCL Team Ukyo won the 71st International Cycling Tour of Bulgaria here on Thursday.

The race ended in a scandal as commissaires spent more than two hours considering complaints against the win of Bulgarian Martin Papanov (Tzar Simeon Team) in the competition’s last Stage 5 (123 km Sliven-Gabrovo).

Papanov was trailed in 12 seconds by the peloton led by Malucelli. Czech Dominik Neuman (ATT Investments) came in third, clocking the same time. Italian Giovanni Carboni (Italy/JCL Ukyo), who topped the general classification, fell and was late at the finish line.

Immediately after the finish, Malucelli and Carboni approached the commissaires to demand Papanov’s disqualification, claiming that he was "pulled" by a car on the descent to Gabrovo. JCL Ukyo filed a complaint, but after two hours’ deliberations the commissaires decided to leave the ranking unchanged.

The yellow jersey passed from Carboni to Malucelli. Papanov was second in the general classification, and Carboni was third.

Hungary’s Marton Dina (ATT Investments) was named King of the Mountains. He became the first entrant in the history of the cycling tour of Bulgaria who won all climbs of the highest first category within a single race: two at Shipka and one at Beklemeto.

The Most Active Ride jersey went to Serbia’s Luka Turkulov (Cycling Team Vasil Levski).

JCL Ukyo topped the team standings.

Twenty teams (four Bulgarian and sixteen foreign ones) competed in the 71st International Cycling Tour of Bulgaria. This year's race celebrated the 100th anniversary of its inception in 1924, making the Tour Europe’s fourth oldest cycling event, preceded only by the tours of France, Italy, and Belgium.