Flying Gaviria victorious in China

Back to winning ways for Fernando Gaviria, who won the first stage of the Tour of Guangxi (World Tour).
The Colombian sprinter from UAE Team Emirates narrowly edged out Pascal Ackermann (Bora-hansgrohe) and the silver medalist from Yorkshire, Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) to break his victory dry spell which has lasted since the Tour of Italy.

The race was run over a 135.6 km course divided into three laps of a 45.5 km circuit with start and finish in Beihai with a relatively flat profile.

Gaviria reacts to his fifth win of the year: “The stage was short but raced all day at a very high pace. The support of my teammates was essential today. They stayed close to me and helped me a lot on the uphill sections. The last climb was still far from the finish so we had time to prepare ourselves for the sprint. We were in a good position coming into the line when all the teams were fighting for position.
I found myself on the wheel of a rider from Bahrain-Merida and I had the patience and coolness to wait until the last minute to go. The power in the legs was there to come around for the win”.

The second stage will give the sprinters a second chance: departing from Beihai and finishing in Qinzhou over 152.3 kilometers of mostly flat terrain.

Stage 1 results
1 Fernando Gaviria (Col) UAE Team Emirates  2h53’42”
2 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) BORA – hansgrohe  s.t.
3 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott  s.t.

General Classification after stage 1
1 Fernando Gaviria (Col) UAE Team Emirates  2h53’32”
2 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) BORA – hansgrohe  4″
3 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott  6″