Guilin 23rd October
The 5th stage of the Tour of Guangxi was the longest and most undulated one of this year’s first edition of the race. From Liuzhou to Guilin, over 212.2 kilometers, the riders had to cover four climbs, the last with about 35k to go. Again, a leading trio went clear from the bunch early to take all KOMs of the day. They averaged speeds of 40 mph and most sprinters survived the climbs. But with different teams organizing the chase, the breakaway was caught from a reduced peloton on the last decent of the day. Even some attempts were launched in the final, a sprint had to decide the race in the end.
D. Groenewegen was able to beat F. Gaviria this time to the line.
“It’s going to be a bunch sprint tomorrow, we will try to bring our ‘dragon’ in the breakaway, and we will try a sprint for Sonny or Niccolo.” Tomorrow will be the last stage for Tour of Guangxi, 168.1km with 2 categorized climbs at the second part of the circuit course, it is the last chance for GC contenders to take action.
