GUILIN, South China, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Dylan Groenewegen of Team LottoNL-Jumbo won the penultimate and hardest stage of the inaugural Gree UCI WorldTour Tour of Guangxi here on Monday, while Belgium's Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) managed to retain the lead in the overall classification after a fierce battle against the other GC contenders in the hills.
The 24-year-old Dutchman crossed the finish line first in five hours four minutes 21 seconds after a gruelling 212km stage 5 that was raced at a very high pace throughout. In the bunch sprint Groenewegen was faster than triple stage winner Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) and Magnus Cort Nielsen (ORICA-Scott).
Groenewegen had praiseful words for his teammates. "This victory is a real team performance. Everyone stayed with me to help me cross the hills. After that, I was perfectly placed for the sprint. Tribute to the team," he said.
A total of 116 riders started stage 5 in Liuzhou. It was a very intense start with lots of unsuccessful attacks. 49km were covered during the first hour in which race leader Wellens defended his red jersey by contesting the first intermediate sprint and taking two seconds bonus by coming second to Danny van Poppel (Team Sky) at km 29.
Bernhard Eisel and Mekseb Debesay, both from Dimension Data, made a breakaway but a trio manage to stay clear off the peloton after 60km of racing: Daniel Oss (BMC), William Clarke (Cannondale-Drapac) and Fabricio Ferrari (Caja Rural). At the halfway point, they got their maximum lead of five minutes. At the surprise of many in the peloton, the whole Movistar team riding for Jesus Herrada, eleventh overall, set a very fast tempo as three categorized climbs were looming in the last 60km. They brought the time difference down to one minute. Nicolas Roche (BMC), Wout Poels (Sky), Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), Herrada and Wellens bridged the gap to Oss, the sole remaining of the leading trio. It became a 13-man leading group, then thirty and eventually seventy riders formed a peloton again.
In the bunch spint Groenewegen timed it perfectly in the head wind and didn't let Gaviria win a fourth stage.
With now six seconds lead over Bauke Mollema instead of four as he took two seconds bonus in the first intermediate sprint on stage 5, Wellens looks very likely to become the first ever winner of the Gree UCI WorldTour Tour of Guangxi. Stage 6 consists in a 168.1km long loop taking the riders back to their starting point at Guilin Central Square after going through a few hills in the south of the city.
