News: All Change on GC at Tour of Guangxi

After three stage wins by Fernando Gaviria, the Tour of Guangxi had a summit finish where Tim Wellens won the stage and now leads on GC

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News: All Change on GC at Tour of Guangxi

After three stage wins by Fernando Gaviria, the Tour of Guangxi had a summit finish where Tim Wellens won the fourth stage and now leads on GC

The Belgian crossed the line in the same time as runner-up Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) and four seconds ahead of third-placed Nicolas Roche (BMC Racing Team) after a 3km final climb.

With previous race leader Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) having been dropped earlier on the climb and with bonuses of ten, six and four seconds awarded to the first three riders over the line, Wellens jumps to the top of the general classification and opens up a lead of four seconds over second-placed Mollema and nine seconds over third-placed Roche.

A crash in the last couple of kilometres brought down a group of riders, including stage contenders Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana Pro Team). The six-day race continues on Monday with a rolling, 212.2km fifth stage from Liuzhou to Guilin.

Nicolas Roche: “The finish was quite hectic but the crash didn’t bother me as we stayed to the left hand side of the road out of trouble. The team did a great job all day to chase the breakaway and keep us well-positioned. We wanted to take some responsibility so we put Floris Gerts up there straight away to chase and then Manuel Senni, and then Joey Rosskopf and Daniel Oss did the last effort to position us before the climb when it became a drag race with the other teams.”

“We saw in the last few stages on these big open roads that everyone tries to get around you with the strong head wind so it can be really chaotic. So, we decided to take the race on and I think our plan to not save energy but instead use all of the guys paid off. Daniel made it a hard pace going into the climb and I knew that it flattened out a bit with 2km to go so that would be a good place to make a move. I attacked and went clear but was caught with about 800m to go by Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal). Wellens was stronger and rode myself and Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) off his wheel with 500m to go.”

“You never know what can happen in the final two days with the bonus seconds. It’s going to be quite tough as the intermediate sprints are well placed. But, you just never know which these stages and on these big roads.”

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Stage 4 result
1. Tim Wellens, Lotto Soudal, 3h23’18”
2. Bauke Mollema, Trek-Segafredo, same time
3. Nicolas Roche, BMC Racing Team, +4”
4. Julian Alaphilippe, Quick-Step Floors, +6”
5. Ben Hermans, BMC Racing Team, same time
6. Matej Mohoric, UAE Team Emirates, same time
7. Wout Poels, Team Sky, +12”
8. Rein Taaramae, Team Katusha Alpecin, +17”
9. Mekseb Debesay, Team Dimension Data, +20”
10. Remi Cavagna, Quick-Step Floors, +22”

General classification
1. Tim Wellens, Lotto Soudal, 12h09’00”
2. Bauke Mollema, Trek-Segafredo, +4”
3. Nicolas Roche, BMC Racing Team, +9”
4. Julian Alaphilippe, Quick-Step Floors, +13”
5. Ben Hermans, BMC Racing Team, +16”
6. Matej Mohoric, UAE Team Emirates, +22”
7. Wout Poels, Team Sky, same time
8. Silvan Dillier, BMC Racing Team, +27”
9. Rein Taaramae, Team Katusha Alpecin, same time
10. Remi Cavagna, Quick-Step Floors, +29”

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