Guardini, representing Britain’s Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli team, finished the 114.1-kilometer first stage of the 47th Presidential Tour of Turkey, or TUR, in 2:35:54 to win the first-ever intercontinental cycling stage.

Tyler Farrar from the United States’ Garmin-Cervelo team came second with the same time while Kenny Van Hummel from the Netherlands' Skill Shimano team finished third.

The winners received their awards from Turkish President Abdullah Gül, who welcomed the racers at the finish line.

Two Turkish cyclist finished in the top 20. Miraç Kal of Konya Torku Şekerspor-Vivelo finished 12th while Manisaspor Cycling’s Ahmet Akdilek came in 15th.

Gül said the stage witnessed a very exciting finish.

“It was a good display of teamwork and a cyclist won with a great sprint, it was like a horse race,” Gül said after the stage, adding that the TUR was a great opportunity to promote Turkey.

“The Presidential Tour plays an important role in Turkey’s promotion,” he said. “We could not have made the same impact if we had spent millions of dollars for campaigns. Since the tour’s name is presidential, I try to get involved in it as much as I can.”

The teams and cyclists will now fly to Kuşadası on the Aegean shore for Monday’s second stage. The 178-kilometer stage will start in Kuşadası at 11:30 a.m. and finish in Turgutreis at around 4 p.m.

The TUR will end on May 1 in the Mediterranean resort town of Alanya.

The 1,387-km tour, which is the first ever intercontinental cycling event, features 22 teams and 176 professional cyclists, including Andre Greipel of Columbia, Garmin Transitions sprinter Tyler Farrar and Italian Alessandro Petacchi from Lampre-ISD.

The TUR will daily be broadcast live on Turkey’s state-owned television network TRT and Eurosport.