It looked like business as usual at the Tour of Turkey on Sunday when Vitaly Butz broke away in search of points for the mountains prize.

"I hit the breakaway because it is important for the team to appear on the prize-giving stage," Butz said after the first stage of the Tour of Turkey. He is a member of the Turkish continental team Sakarya BB Pro Team. [It's] either first place in the Treasures of Turkey sprint or take the lead in the mountains. We almost accomplished both, so it's a great day."

"Now I have the white jersey and I'm tied for first with KOM. I knew today was an important day for KOM.

Butz has five points, the same as Nicolas Ede. However, the Frenchman was not chasing the jersey he won at the 2013 Vuelta a España.

"I was rather controlling the race so that the leaders were in a good position before the downhill," Ede, a veteran of the Arcair Samsic, told Cycling News.

"Nasser [Bouhanni] was even harder than Nairo [Quintana], but when I saw the KOM line in front of me, I instinctively went for it.

Edet made it clear that he would not defend the red jersey, so Butz would be able to keep the momentum going for the Sakarya team in the daily post-stage ceremonies.

"Because of the war in Ukraine, we are not in as good shape as last year," Butz explained.

"I returned home after the Tour of Antalya (February 10-13) and was unable to train for three weeks because of the war. Fortunately, I was able to escape two weeks ago with my wife and two children."

"I arrived in Turkey with literally nothing and left my bike, cycling clothes, and everything in Ukraine. The team here was very supportive. They supplied me with what I needed to survive and train again on my new bike."

Butz, 35, is in his second year with the Turkish continental team Sakarya BB Pro Team. He competed on the World Tour with Lampre for four seasons between 2009 and 2012. He is also a two-time national road racing champion, winning titles in 2014 and 2017.

"Let's hope this war ends soon.

"Luckily my parents live quite far away in a quiet place, but my city Mykolaiv is being bombed. It's very close to Odessa in the Crimea."

"I watch the news several times a day and I am very worried because I have two houses and many friends. I will not leave until the war is over. I will stay in Turkey or move my family to Italy. I want the world to be peaceful like Turkey."

"All I can do now is to keep racing aggressively, even if my shape is not ideal.