Ethan Vernon (Great Britain, Premier Tech, Israel) won his second straight victory in the 4th stage of the Tour of Guanxi, which featured heated sprints every day. However, Vernon was given a 20-second penalty for a sticky bottle, so Kanter moved into the overall lead.
Day 4 of the Tour of Guanxi, set on a hilly stage photo: CorVos
The Glee Tour of Guanxi is currently being held in China, Asia, the same place as Japan where the Japan Cup is about to begin. The 4th stage, which entered the second half of the race, was a hilly stage where the course was evenly divided into 2nd, 3rd, 3rd and 2nd class mountains. However, since even the final mountain was still more than 30km from the finish, it was decided that this day too, it would be a group sprint.
A total of 119 athletes competed in the race, which had an elevation gain of 2,140m, and from the beginning a group of four World Team members was formed, typical of a World Tour. Among them were Taco van der Hoorn (Netherlands, Intermarche Wanty), who ran away on the second day of the tournament, and former TT European champion Stefan Bisseger (Switzerland, EF Education Easypost).
Four people, including Stefan Bisegger (Switzerland, EF Education Easypost), escaped photo: CorVos
Christopher Froome (Britain, Israel Premier Tech) also joins the group. Photo: CorVos
In all four mountain categories, Pepin Reindering (Netherlands, Soudal Quickstep) rode on the run and finished first in all four categories to win the mountain award jersey. The main group chasing it is led by Israeli Premier Tech, including Christopher Froome (UK). It was worth it, as Proton managed to escape and pull the group back with 2km remaining.
After that, Bahrain Victorious took the lead and set the pace, suppressing the attacks of teams that dislike sprints. Daan Hohle (Riddle Trek), a 198cm tall man who won this year’s Dutch TT Championship, was not able to jump out, and the match was reduced to a group sprint for four consecutive days.
Visma Liesabijke, with Mick Van Dijke (Netherlands) as their ace, will form a train at the front, and will then be replaced by Astana and Israel. Ethan Vernon (Great Britain) started his sprint from behind the final leadout, Riley Pickrell (Canada, Israel Premier Tech). Max Kanter (Germany, Astana Kazakstan) and Alberto Bruttomesso (Italy, Bahrain Victorious) approached from behind, but could not reach Vernon’s top speed.
Ethan Vernon (Great Britain, Israel Premier Tech) won his second straight victory wearing the overall leader jersey photo: CorVos
“Sometimes the first win gives you confidence. I’ve won back-to-backs several times in my career. Once you have motivation and momentum, it leads to great results.” Vernon said as he grabbed it.
Vernon, who was in the overall lead, received -10 seconds of bonus time, extending his overall lead. However, during the race, he was given a +20 second penalty for doing a sticky bottle (in which the team car presses the accelerator to accelerate when receiving a bottle from the team car). As a result, Kanter, who was second in the section, has re-emerged into the overall lead.
