Kump gives Lampre-Merida second win at 2016 Tour of Qinghai Lake

Updated 26/07/2016 at 13:54 GMT

Last year’s points winner Marko Kump enjoys thrill of victory after clipping previous stage winner Nicolas Marini in stage 9 finish at 15th Tour of Qinghai Lake…

Kump back atop familiar podium in Qinghai Lake

Image credit: Eurosport

Slovenian Marko Kump (Lampre-Merida) narrowly clips previous stage winner Nicolas Marini (Nippo-Vini Fantini) to claim stage 9 - Photo: Adrian Hoe / Tour of Qinghai Lake

Image credit: Eurosport

TIANSHUI, China—The typically stoic Slovenian Marko Kump (Lampre-Merida) managed to crack a smile through his soot-covered face following a stage 9 win over previous stage winner Nicolas Marini (Nippo-Vini Fantini) in the second straight photo finish of the15th ‘Qinghai Rural Credit Cup’ Tour of Qinghai Lake (UCI 2.HC).

Only 115 of the original 157 riders rolled up to the start following the race’s only rest day to compete in the eight-lap (12.5km per lap), 100km circuit in Tianshui, China, on Tuesday, July 26.

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Last year’s points champion and five-time stage winner picked up his first win of the season since joining Lampre-Merida from Slovenian-registered UCI Continental team Adria-Mobil (CT) prior the Santos Tour Down Under (2.UWT) in January.

“It is a nice feeling to stand on top of the podium again,” said Kump, who now has 13 pro wins to his palmarés. “I think I was pretty close a few times, but after a difficult start to the first part of the season, it’s nice to be back.”

The 27-year-old former Tinkoff-Saxo rider (2013-2014) told Eurosport he’s felt no pressure from Lampre, but admits his own expectations have certainly crossed his mind.

“I didn’t feel any pressure from the team,” he said. “However, I wanted to perform well and to show that I can win.

“I hope this is going to be much easier now.”

An exhausted Marko Kump (SLO) is happy to be back on the top step of the podium in 2016 - Photo: Adrian Hoe / Tour of Qinghai Lake

Image credit: Eurosport

The victory gives the Italian WorldTour team its second win of the 13-stage, 1,916km UCI Asia Tour road race after 22-year-old Italian Federico Zurlo won stage 7 on Saturday.

“It’s the second win for Lampre and I hope we can continue with four stages remaining,” Kump told Eurosport. “To be back on the podium in Tianshui is special because that’s where [Adria Mobil] took the yellow jersey (on stage 10) last year and we were able to carry it to the finish [with Radoslav Rogina of Croatia].

According to Kump, who suffered bruised ribs in the massive stage 1 pileup inside the final 2km, he initially felt the day could belong to him.

“I told my team in our meeting this morning that I was feeling great and had a good feeling about today,” he admitted. “I told them I feel strong, but of course there are also other riders to contend with no matter how good you feel.”

While Kump has suffered since the opening stage, he makes no excuses for not crossing the finish line in first before today.

“I can’t say that the injury was the reason why I couldn’t perform,” explained Kump. “To be honest, in the first part of the race the parcours was a little bit harder than last year, but also last year I felt much better in the first week.

“This year I’m getting much better in the second week,” he continued. “There are three more sprint opportunities, but again, it’s not just me out there, so we will see how it goes.”

Ukrainian Vitaliy Buts (Kolss-BDC) maintains his grip on both the yellow leaders jersey and the green points jersey, with teammate and stage 6 winner Sergiy Lagkuti (UKR) in second place overall, one second behind Buts.

Colombian Mauricio Ortega (RTS-Santic) has all but wrapped up the mountains classification, while two-time stage winner Yevgeniy Gidich (Vino 4ever SKO) reclaims the blue jersey for best Asian rider after teammate and countryman Zhandos Bizhigitov abandoned the race on the second to last lap.

Marko Kump (Lampre-Merida) celebrates his stage 9 victory next to stage 8 winner Nicolas Marini (Nippo-Vini Fantini) and two-time stage winner Yevgeniy Gidich (Vino 4ever SKO) - Photo: Adrian Hoe / Tour of Qinghai Lake

Image credit: Eurosport

American Connor McCutcheon (Team Illuminate) was also awarded most aggressive rider after attacking with 19km to go.

“It was a good day,” said McCutcheon, who has been feeling the effects of altitude sickness the past few days. “It was good to do a circuit race at lower altitude – it felt a bit better on the body.

“Everyone was riding cautiously due to the slippery conditions on the day, which can sometimes be a bad thing if riders freeze up and crash into things,” he added. “It was good motivation for me to be in a breakaway like I was.

“Hopefully this kind of exposure can get us in bigger races, so we can just keep doing what we are doing which is racing our bikes and trying to get results.”

BRIEF RESULTS

Stage 9 Classification

1. Marko Kump, SLO, Lampre-Merida, 2:00:13

2. Martin Haring, SVK, Dukla Banska Bystrica, s.t.

3. Yevgeniy Gidich, KAZ, Vino 4ever SKO, s.t.

General Classification

1. Vitaliy Buts, UKR, Kolss-BDC, 33:05:04

2. Sergiy Lagkuti, UKR, Kolss-BDC, 0:01

3. Alberto Cecchin, ITA, Team Roth, 0:22

Classification Leaders

Race Leader (Yellow Jersey): Vitaliy Buts, UKR, Kolss-BDC

Points Leader (Green Jersey): Vitaliy Buts, UKR, Kolss-BDC