By Emery Paquette
  
  Turkish ace Hüsnü Dilmen will be on a hattrick when he lines up for the opening stage of the Perm Tour today in Russia.
  
  Already a general classification winner at Monte Rosa Tour and Norway Tour this season, the 27-year-old Manisaspor rider will be looking to make history with a third feather in his cap.
  
  While the parcours do not exactly suit the climber to a tee, he will know the lack of technical time trialists at this year's event gives him every a chance of walking away with one of the ugliest leader's race jerseys in OCM.
  
  "I give my best," said the Turkish national champion when interviewed the day before while on his recce of the first stage route. "We see how it goes."
  
  The Stage 3 Perm-Perm ITT will be vital, a 48km circuit of the town that has so often seperated the men from the boys on this tour.
  
  Dilmen knows

that a good performance on this day might just sew up the pink jersey, especially if he has distanced his rivals on the King Stage the previous evening.
  
  However, there might be unlikely opposition from within his own ranks with the upcoming Spanish climber Anselmo Zubizarreta a genuine threat for the youth classification.
  
  Manisaspor team principal Ozgur Akman is known to be a rabid fan of the youngster, reportedly sleeping with a picture of the stud on his bedside table every night.
  
  "I haven't decided yet," Akman told reporters. "We might race for Zubizarreta instead since we have never won a YC before.
  
  "We will see how it goes."
  
  Batty as it may sound, you can never rule anything out in Perm. As the locals say, you have to be crazy to ride on this tour.
  
  Emery Paquette is a failed Australian road cyclist and current pundit for Dodge Pirate Radio Kommercial (formerly known as the Dodge Racing Channel).