Australian rider triumphs while stage one winner Tony Martin defends lead
Narrowly holding off his rivals in a massive bunch sprint to the line in Men Tou Gou, Garmin-Cervélo’s Heinrich Haussler beat Denis Galimzyanov (Katusha) to nab victory on stage two of the Tour of Beijing. The Australian rider finished centimetres ahead of the Russian sprinter, with Dutchman Theo Bos (Rabobank) and the Italian Francesco Chicchi (Quick Step) third and fourth.
The win was the first since Haussler’s two stage victories in February’s Tour of Qatar, and brings to an end a sparse period caused by injury during the spring. His victory depended in part on being in the right place for the sprint, and also going at the right time.
“It was basically flat today but it was ridden at a fast speed and was really hectic at the finish,” he stated. “The end was so stressful. There were lots of teams trying to get their sprinters there but fortunately for me, we had Cam (Meyer) and Jack (Bobridge) up the front today to bring us up. Then I managed to time it perfectly.”
Galimzyanov went very close to the win, and was understandably left wondering how things might have been. “Being right behind first place is always a little disappointing, but these are the rules of the game and this verdict, even if it’s hard, has to be accepted,” he said, philosophically. “I’m sorry, especially because the team worked really well in order to put me in the best possible position to win the final sprint. But I have not a lot to regret, because in the last 100 metres I gave my best, hoping to leave everybody behind. However someone was faster than me and so I have to congratulate him.
“Of course, I would have liked to be the first Russian rider to win a professional cycling race in China, but I think I’ll have some more chances and maybe, the next time, I’ll be the one to win by just a few millimetres.”
Overnight leader Tony Martin had a stress-free day due to the work of his HTC Highroad team and finished safely in the peloton. He maintained his 17 second advantage over David Millar (Garmin-Cervélo), with Alex Dowsett (Sky Procycling) staying third, a further seven seconds back.
“It was not too hard. I could hide behind my team, which was riding really strong,” he said after the stage. “Of course it was a little bit harder at the finish.”
The mainly flat 137 kilometre stage was marked by a long distance break which initially contained four riders. Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil), Igor Anton (Euskaltel Euskadi), Dimitri Muravyev (RadioShack) and Kun Jiang (Chinese national team) clipped away approximately ten kilometres after the start in Bird’s Nest and opened a lead of over three minutes.
Anton dropped back approximately 43 kilometres from the finish. The remaining trio continued on, with Kun Jiang winning all of the intermediate sprints and De Gendt best in the four category three King of the Mountains primes. The gap was down to under two minutes with 15 kilometres remaining and soon afterwards De Gendt decided to go it alone.
He was joined a couple of kilometres later by Angel Madrazo (Movistar) and Nick Nuyens (Saxo Bank), but all three were reeled in by the peloton, which then fought it out in a big sprint. There Haussler showed he still has the speed to win, grabbing an important morale-boosting result in the new WorldTour race.
How things played out:
A total of 147 riders moved off from the start at the Bird’s Nest stadium, although one of them – Garmin-Cervélo’s Andrew Talansky – would retire before the end of the stage due to stomach problems. After a number of attacks, a quartet of riders moved clear approximately ten kilometres after the start.
Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil), Igor Anton (Euskaltel Euskadi), Dimitri Muravyev (RadioShack) and Kun Jiang (Chinese national team) built a growing lead, with the latter taking the first bonus sprint after 17.5 kilometres of racing. He would go on to claim top points in the remaining two sprints, at kilometre 63.5 and kilometre 105.5.
Forty kilometres after the start, the quartet were two minutes 48 seconds ahead. Ten kilometres later, they were three minutes in front, but the four reduced to three when Anton dropped back 43 kilometres from the finish. Seven kilometres later, De Gendt led the other two riders over the summit of the day’s third and penultimate climb, where their advantage was just over two minutes.
Race leader Tony Martin’s HTC Highroad team had done much of the pace setting but as the finish drew closer, the other squads took over and pushed the pace. With 15 kilometres left the lead was down to one minute 40 seconds, and it continued to fall.
De Gendt knew their recapture was practically inevitable but was determined to fight until the end. He pushed on ahead on the day’s final climb, 15 kilometres from the finish, while behind Angel Madrazo (Movistar) surged clear from the bunch. He was chased over the summit by Tour of Flanders winner Nick Nuyens (Saxo Bank), who joined him soon afterwards, and together they reeled in De Gendt.
However the reinforcements were not able to fend off a hungry peloton, which gobbled them up and continued to speed towards the line.
Heading into the final five kilometres, other teams started to push forward. Michael Barry accelerated to the front for Sky Procycling, then Rabobank took over heading towards the final two kilometres. Sky briefly moved alongside again, causing two leadout trains, but then gave way.
Behind, Brent Bookwalter was one of several riders who crashed, but was given the same time as the peloton as the incident happened inside the final three kilometres.
After passing under the kite, the Leopard-Trek team hit the front but faded. Galimzyanov fancied his chances and was waiting on Haussler’s wheel, but left his acceleration a fraction too late. Former world track sprint champion Theo Bos was also ambitious and came from some way back in his gallop but, like the Russian, was unable to get past Haussler before the line.
The verdict was close but the photo finish made it clear; the Australian’s long wait for a victory was over, and he appears back on track. He’ll look forward to 2012 but, before then, there’s likely to be several more sprint opportunities in China.
More to follow soon….