Qinghai Lake: Crash-marred queen stage cancelled due to torrential storms

Race officials called off Stage 11 after 158 kilometres of the 240km stage from Tianshui to Pingliang after heavy rainfall caused hazardous conditions during the 16th Tour of Qinghai Lake (2.HC) in China on Thursday.

Several riders crashed on the descent of the first of two categorised climbs (both Cat. 3), resulting in an immediate evaluation and neutralisation of the race with two stages remaining in the 13-stage UCI Asia Tour road race.

As of press time, no race officials were available to Eurosport for comment, nor were any details released regarding the condition of any downed riders.

The race suffered a black eye publicly on the opening stage of last year’s race when a bystander crossed directly in front of the surging bunch sprint inside the final few hundred metres, which prompted race and city officials to lose their jobs.

The final two days consist of city-based circuit races, including Friday’s 105km Stage 12 in Yinchuan. With the cancellation of the race’s queen stage, Venezuelan Olympic cyclist Yonathan Monsalve (Qinghai Tianyoude) is all but assured he will take the yellow jersey earned on Stage 6 all the way to the final. Monsalve’s win would be a first for a Qinghai-based team.

The KOM jersey is worn by last year’s mountain classification winner Mauricio Ortega (RTS-Monton Racing) of Colombia, who trails Monsalve by 20 seconds and sits second on general classification with former Europcar rider Bjorn Thurau (Kuwait-Cartucho.es) of Germany a further four seconds back in third. Ortega entered the day with a three-point lead over 2015 race winner Radoslav Rogina (Adria Mobil) of Croatia.

Points leader Ahmet Örken (Torku Şekerspor) held a 10-point lead over ‘Best Asian Rider’ and soon-to-be Astana Pro Team stagiaire Yevgeniy Gidich (Vino-Astana Motors) to start the stage. The 24-year-old Turkish Olympian, who has already won two stages, will be a favourite to hold on to the green jersey in the final two days.