Walscheid wins stage 3, moves into lead at Tour of Hainan

Updated 24/10/2016 at 12:56 GMT

Third time’s the charm for Max Walscheid with a stage 3 win to slip to the top of GC at the 2016 Tour of Hainan…

Walscheid powers to stage win and yellow jersey in Hainan

Image credit: Eurosport

CHENGMAI, China—Riders faced a second straight 200km-plus stage at the 11th Tour of Hainan (UCI 2.HC) on Monday, October 24.

With milder temperatures and less humidity, the peloton successfully chased down the break across nearly the entire breadth of the 209.2km stage 3 from Haikou to ChengMai after exerting a 230km effort under sweltering conditions the day before.

German giant Max Walscheid (Giant-Alpecin) outmuscled the bunch sprint to claim his first pro win and leapfrog stage 1 winner and previous race leader Rafael Andriato (Wilier Triestina-Southeast) of Brazil.

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Andriato is now second on general classification (GC) just 6 seconds off Walscheid and tied on time with stage 2 winner and Best Asian Rider jersey holder Ruslan Tleubayev (Astana Pro Cycling) of Kazakhstan.

“We were close on the first stage, and yesterday we also got a good result,” said Walscheid, who took second on stage 1 and fourth on stage 2. “We just thought if we bring everything together with the team, we would be fine and we are really happy to get my first win today.

“It is not just a victory for me, but rather for my whole team.”

German Max Walscheid (Giant-Alpecin) celebrates his first pro win following stage 3 at the 11th edition of the Tour of Hainan on Monday, October 24 - Photo: Adrian Hoe / Tour of Hainan

Image credit: Eurosport

When asked of the possibility of defending yellow, the 23-year-old Walscheid offered no illusions.

“The Yellow jersey is not an option for us because I am not the best climber, and there are still one or two mountain stages to come,” said the imposing (199cm, 89kg) three-time under-23 Tour of Berlin (2.2U) stage winner and 2016 national road race silver medallist.

“We are happy to have it now and for sure we will try to defend it in the upcoming stages, and hopefully there is another podium or win possible.”

From the start of the race, an eight-man break launched within the first 10km and quickly became a group of seven. That break would eventually extended its lead to over five minutes (5:10) after 45km of racing before the peloton began to pick up the chase.

With 40km to go, four riders split from the break, including Colombia’s Carlos Ospina (RTS-Monton Racing), China’s Guangtong Ma (Wisdom-Hengxiang Cycling Team), Australia’s Lachlan Norris (Drapac Pro Cycling) and France’s Lucas De Rossi (Delko Marseille Provence-KTM), before being reeled in 20km later.

A flurry of attacks in the final 15km from Hy Sport-Look Continental and Giant-Champion System Pro Cycling proved fruitless.

However, De Rossi’s participation in the break earned him his second ‘Most Aggressive Rider’ award following the race.

“The race is long, but I want to be in the front and I am very happy to get the combativity award,” said the 21-year-old mountain biker-turned-road cyclist, who just recently signed on as a stagiaire with Delko in August. “I’m trying to get KOM points, so I will continue to be aggressive.”

Frenchmen and stagiaire Lucas De Rossi (Delko Marseille Provence-KTM) earned his second 'combativity' award at the 2016 Tour of Hainan - Photo: Adrian Hoe / Tour of Hainan

Image credit: Eurosport

Eurosport talked with De Rossi’s veteran teammate and newly signed Delko rider Thomas Vaubourzeix (FRA), formerly of the now-defunct Lupus Racing Team (CT), to get his thoughts on the French neo-pro.

“Our focus was getting Lucas in the mountains jersey,” said Vaubourzeix, a 2014 Tour of Qinghai Lake (UCI 2.HC) stage winner and eight-time race leader, who attempted a solo attack to bridge the gap with 10km to go. “I tried to go to the front to help Lucas, but that plan did not work out.

“Lucas is a great young rider, and this is his first professional race,” he continued. “This experience will give him confidence to find a good result for himself and do a good job for the team.”

With the win, Walscheid also assumes the green points jersey from Astana’s Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ), while China’s Jingbaio Zhao continues to hold the polka-dot ‘King of the Mountain’ (KOM) jersey.

BRIEF RESULTS

Stage 3 Classification

1. Max Walscheid, GER, Team Giant-Alpecin, 5:09:08

2. Andrea Pasqualon, ITA, Team Roth, s.t.

3. Tino Thömel, GER, RTS-Monton Racing, s.t.

General Classification

1. Max Walscheid, GER, Team Giant-Alpecin, 5:09:08

2. Rafael Andriato, BRA, Wilier Triestina-Southeast, 0:06

3. Ruslan Tleubayev, KAZ, Astana Pro Team, s.t.

Classification Leaders

Race Leader (Yellow Jersey): Max Walscheid, GER, Team Giant-Alpecin

Points Leader (Green Jersey): Max Walscheid, GER, Team Giant-Alpecin