Tour of Hainan 2018 – Stage 1 [FULL STAGE]

October 23, 2018

Tour of Hainan 2018 – Stage 1 – Danzhou – Danzhou : 90 km

The Tour of Hainan is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Hainan Province, China. The race consists of nine stages and is part of the UCI Asia Tour. The event was first held in 2006. It was made a UCI 2.1 race from 2007 and upgraded to category 2.HC in 2009.

Italy’s Jakub Mareczko opened his account in style in the opening stage of the 13th edition of the Tour of Hainan. The Wilier Triestina rider outsprinted Switzerland’s Dylan Page and his compatriot Manuel Belletti (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) in Danzhou.

Mareczko won five stages last year and the first of his 39 Asian victories out of 53 in total up to date on the paradisiacal Chinese island in 2015.

“I’m happy to win stage 1 this time”, said Mareczko who previously needed at least a day to find the right timing. “My teammates positioned me very well for this sprint. I don’t know what happened behind me. I just know some riders went down. We were at the front of the peloton for the last 10 kilometres.”

After a very competitive start, Liu Jianpeng and Zhang Zheng (Hengxiang), Niu Yikui (Mitchelton-BikeExchange), Ivar Slik (Monkey Town), Li Zisen (Qinghai Tianyoude) and Joab Schneiter (Switzerland) took off after 15 kilometres. They got a maximum advantage of 1:20.

In a highly contested intermediate sprint at half way, Zhang bettered Niu to move into the lead of the best Asian rider competition at the end of the day. After 50km of racing, Slik and Schneiter forged on, later reinforced by Mongolia’s Tegshbayar Batsaikhan of RTS, who bridged the gap by himself with 20km to go.

Eventually, it all came back together when Wilier Triestina put the hammer down 10 kilometres before the finish.

“The last seven kilometres were contested on a very high tempo,” said runner-up Page. “There was some headwind in the final straight line. We thought we’d have to launch the sprint the latest possible. We have a nice Swiss national team this year with strong rouleurs and good climbers, so I get a better support than last year to lead me out. That’s why I was more confident for today’s stage.

“Fabian Lienhard stayed with me to protect me. I managed to follow the right wheel, which was Mareczko’s. 100 metres before the line, I tried to pass him. I felt strong but I cracked at 50 metres to go. It’s a good way to start the Tour of Hainan. It’s a morale booster for more sprinting stages to come.”

“It didn’t go as we planned at the beginning,” third placed Belletti echoed. “It’s been chaotic in the last 5km so it was very difficult to keep the wheels of my team-mates. I found them again 800 metres before the end but that meant doing a sprint before the sprint, and unfortunately, I was missing some energy for the final part. We want to do better in the coming sprint finishes.”

New race leader Mareczko informed that he won’t necessarily be the top end sprinter for Wilier Triestina in the next few days as the Italian team also features Luca Pacioni. This is Mareczko’s last race for the team he joined three years. Aged 24, he’ll step up to the WorldTour with CCC next year.

“I’ve enjoyed a lot of successes in Asia so far,” Mareczko said. “But this Tour of Hainan might not be the end of my story over here. There’s also a WorldTour race in China [the Tour of Guangxi] and I’d be happy to come back.”

Results :
1 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia 2:02:40
2 Dylan Page (Swi) Switzerland
3 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
4 Jannik Steimle (Ger) Team Vorarlberg Santic
5 Imerio Cima (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini – Europa Ovini
6 Marco Benfatto (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
7 Andre Looij (Ned) Monkey Town Continental Team
8 Raymond Kreder (Ned) Team Ukyo
9 Mohd Zamri Saleh (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team
10 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
11 Mirco Maestri (Ita) Bardiani CSF
12 Tino Thömel (Ger) Bike Aid
13 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Cycling Academy
14 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
15 Jambaljamts Sainbayar (Mgl) RTS Racing Team
16 Anthony Giacoppo (Aus) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team
17 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Bardiani CSF
18 Simone Velasco (Ita) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia
19 Clément Carisey (Fra) Israel Cycling Academy
20 Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Trevigiani Phonix – Hemus 1896
21 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF
22 Luca Pacioni (Ita) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia
23 Davide Orrico (Ita) Team Vorarlberg Santic
24 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team
25 Tristan Ward (Aus) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team
26 Joey Van Rhee (Ned) Monkey Town Continental Team
27 Georgios Bouglas (Gre) Ningxia Sports Lottery Livall Cycling Team
28 Zheng Zhang (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team
29 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
30 Nur Amirull Fakhruddin Mazuki (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team
31 Maarten De Jonge (Ned) Monkey Town Continental Team
32 Julien El Fares (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence Ktm
33 Nazhaerbieke Bieken (Chn) Mitchelton – Bikeexchange
34 Xianjing Lyu (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team
35 Mattia Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
36 Gordian Banzer (Swi) Switzerland
37 Brayan Chaves Rubio (Col) Mitchelton – Bikeexchange
38 Pedro Gutierrez (Ven) Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team
39 Mohd Harrif Saleh (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team
40 Maral-Erdene Batmunkh (Mgl) Terengganu Cycling Team
41 Salim Kipkemboi (Ken) Bike Aid
42 Mingrun Chen (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team
43 Metkel Eyob (Eri) Terengganu Cycling Team
44 Andris Vosekalns (Lat) Hengxiang Cycling Team
45 Brenton Jones (Aus) Delko Marseille Provence Ktm
46 Gino Mäder (Swi) Switzerland
47 Roland Thalmann (Swi) Team Vorarlberg Santic
48 Edwin Arnulfo Parra Bustamante (Col) Ningxia Sports Lottery Livall Cycling Team
49 Jinsong Li (Chn) Giant Cycling Team
50 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia
51 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
52 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF
53 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF
54 Jason Lea (Aus) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team
55 Harrison Sweeny (Aus) Mitchelton – Bikeexchange
56 Feng Qiao (Chn) Ningxia Sports Lottery Livall Cycling Team
57 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
58 Patrick Schelling (Swi) Team Vorarlberg Santic
59 Yonnatta Monsalve (Ven) Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team
60 Jianpeng Liu (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team
61 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk
62 Jiancai Wang (Chn) Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team
63 Antonio Santoro (Ita) Monkey Town Continental Team
64 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
65 Artem Ovechkin (Rus) Terengganu Cycling Team
66 Choon Huat Goh (Sin) Terengganu Cycling Team
67 Adne Van Engelen (Ned) Bike Aid
68 Liang Guo (Chn) Giant Cycling Team
69 Hayato Okamoto (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team
70 Bingcheng Gu (Chn) Giant Cycling Team
71 Simon Pellaud (Swi) Switzerland
72 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini – Europa Ovini
73 Oleksandr Polivoda (Ukr) Ningxia Sports Lottery Livall Cycling Team
74 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Switzerland
75 Mattia Viel (Ita) Holdsworth Pro Racing
76 Eiichi Hirai (Jpn) Team Ukyo
77 Ilia Koshevoy (Blr) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia
78 Peter Schulting (Ned) Monkey Town Continental Team
79 Hang Shi (Chn) Giant Cycling Team
80 Wim Kleiman (Ned) Monkey Town Continental Team
81 Ivar Slik (Ned) Monkey Town Continental Team
82 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Team Vorarlberg Santic
83 Naoya Yoshioka (Jpn) Team Ukyo
84 Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
85 Alexis Guerin (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
86 Ralph Monsalve (Ven) Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team
87 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk
88 Chunlong Zhang (Chn)
89 Haiwang Liu (Chn) Giant Cycling Team
90 Benjami Prades Reverter (Spa) Team Ukyo
91 Robbie Hucker (Aus) Team Ukyo
92 Jacob Hennessy (GBr) Mitchelton – Bikeexchange
93 Zisen Li (Chn) Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team
94 Lijun Bai (Chn) Ningxia Sports Lottery Livall Cycling Team
95 Jiankun Liu (Chn) Mitchelton – Bikeexchange
96 Tyler Williams (USA) Israel Cycling Academy
97 Meng Yan (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team
98 Tegshbayar Batsaikhan (Mgl) RTS Racing Team
99 Roy Goldstein (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 0:01:01
100 Zhishan Zhang (Chn) Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team
101 Itamar Einhorn (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
102 Ito Masakazu (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini – Europa Ovini
103 Bo Wang (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team
104 Tom Fitzpatrick (GBr) RTS Racing Team
105 Nathan Elliott (Aus) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team
106 Yi Chang Wu (Tpe) RTS Racing Team
107 Fabio Calabria (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk
108 Kohei Uchima (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini – Europa Ovini
109 Mingdong Wang (Chn) Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team
110 Hayato Yoshida (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini – Europa Ovini
111 Clint Hendricks (RSA) Bike Aid
112 Matthias Schnapka (Ger) Bike Aid
113 Mauricio Ortega Ramirez (Col) Ningxia Sports Lottery Livall Cycling Team
114 Timo Schäfer (Ger) Bike Aid
115 Rodrigo Araque Lorente (Spa) Team Ukyo
116 Stefan Bissegger (Swi) Switzerland
117 Manduo Liu (Chn) Giant Cycling Team 0:02:02
118 Kohei Yokotsuka (Jpn) Team Ukyo
119 Chao Kai Chin (Tpe) RTS Racing Team
120 Robin Meyer (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence Ktm
121 Ayden Toovey (Aus) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team
122 Hiroki Nishimura (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini – Europa Ovini
123 Simone Bevilacqua (Ita) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia 0:03:01
124 Zhihui Jiang (Chn) Mitchelton – Bikeexchange
125 Joab Schneiter (Swi) Switzerland
126 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF
127 Declan Irvine (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk
128 Lucas Carstensen (Ger) Bike Aid
129 Yikui Niu (Chn) Mitchelton – Bikeexchange
130 Joeri Stallaert (Bel) Team Vorarlberg Santic
131 Alex Turrin (Ita) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia 0:07:09
132 Lukas Meiler (Ger) Team Vorarlberg Santic
133 Gian Friesecke (Swi) Team Vorarlberg Santic
DNS Zhaoliang Xu (Chn) Giant Cycling Team

General Classification after Stage 1 :
1 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 2:02:30
2 Dylan Page (Swi) Switzerland 0:00:04
3 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:00:06
4 Zheng Zhang (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team 0:00:07
5 Ivar Slik (Ned) Monkey Town Continental Team 0:00:08
6 Yikui Niu (Chn) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:09
7 Jannik Steimle (Ger) Team Vorarlberg Santic 0:00:10
8 Imerio Cima (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
9 Marco Benfatto (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
10 Andre Looij (Ned) Monkey Town Continental Team
11 Raymond Kreder (Ned) Team Ukyo
12 Mohd Zamri Saleh (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team
13 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
14 Mirco Maestri (Ita) Bardiani CSF
15 Tino Thömel (Ger) Bike Aid
16 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel-Cycling Academy
17 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
18 Jambaljamts Sainbayar (Mgl) Rts Racing Team
19 Anthony Giacoppo (Aus) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team
20 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Bardiani CSF
21 Simone Velasco (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
22 Clément Carisey (Fra) Israel-Cycling Academy
23 Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Trevigiani Phonix – Hemus 1896
24 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF
25 Luca Pacioni (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
26 Davide Orrico (Ita) Team Vorarlberg Santic
27 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team
28 Tristan Ward (Aus) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team
29 Joey Van Rhee (Ned) Monkey Town Continental Team
30 Georgios Bouglas (Gre) Ningxia Sports Lottery Livall Cycling Team
31 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
32 Nur Amirull Fakhruddin Mazuki (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team
33 Maarten De Jonge (Ned) Monkey Town Continental Team
34 Julien El Fares (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
35 Nazhaerbieke Bieken (Chn) Mitchelton-Scott
36 Xianjing Lyu (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team
37 Mattia Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
38 Gordian Banzer (Swi) Switzerland
39 Brayan Chaves Rubio (Col) Mitchelton-Scott
40 Pedro Gutierrez (Ven) Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team
41 Mohd Harrif Saleh (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team
42 Maral-Erdene Batmunkh (Mgl) Terengganu Cycling Team
43 Salim Kipkemboi (Ken) Bike Aid
44 Mingrun Chen (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team
45 Metkel Eyob (Eri) Terengganu Cycling Team
46 Andris Vosekalns (Lat) Hengxiang Cycling Team
47 Brenton Jones (Aus) Delko Marseille Provence Ktm
48 Gino Mäder (Swi) Switzerland
49 Roland Thalmann (Swi) Team Vorarlberg Santic
50 Edwin Arnulfo Parra Bustamante (Col) Ningxia Sports Lottery Livall Cycling Team
51 Jinsong Li (Chn) Giant Cycling Team
52 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
53 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
54 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF
55 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF
56 Jason Lea (Aus) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team
57 Harrison Sweeny (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
58 Feng Qiao (Chn) Ningxia Sports Lottery Livall Cycling Team
59 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
60 Patrick Schelling (Swi) Team Vorarlberg Santic
61 Yonnatta Monsalve (Ven) Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team
62 Jianpeng Liu (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team
63 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk
64 Jiancai Wang (Chn) Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team
65 Antonio Santoro (Ita) Monkey Town Continental Team
66 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
67 Artem Ovechkin (Rus) Terengganu Cycling Team
68 Choon Huat Goh (Sin) Terengganu Cycling Team
69 Adne Van Engelen (Ned) Bike Aid
70 Liang Guo (Chn) Giant Cycling Team
71 Hayato Okamoto (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team
72 Bingcheng Gu (Chn) Giant Cycling Team
73 Simon Pellaud (Swi) Switzerland
74 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
75 Oleksandr Polivoda (Ukr) Ningxia Sports Lottery Livall Cycling Team
76 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Switzerland
77 Mattia Viel (Ita) Holdsworth Pro Racing
78 Eiichi Hirai (Jpn) Team Ukyo
79 Ilia Koshevoy (Blr) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
80 Peter Schulting (Ned) Monkey Town Continental Team
81 Hang Shi (Chn) Giant Cycling Team
82 Wim Kleiman (Ned) Monkey Town Continental Team
83 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Team Vorarlberg Santic
84 Naoya Yoshioka (Jpn) Team Ukyo
85 Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
86 Alexis Guerin (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
87 Ralph Monsalve (Ven) Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team
88 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk
89 Chunlong Zhang (Chn)
90 Haiwang Liu (Chn) Giant Cycling Team
91 Benjami Prades Reverter (Spa) Team Ukyo
92 Robbie Hucker (Aus) Team Ukyo
93 Jacob Hennessy (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
94 Zisen Li (Chn) Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team
95 Lijun Bai (Chn) Ningxia Sports Lottery Livall Cycling Team
96 Jiankun Liu (Chn) Mitchelton-Scott
97 Tyler Williams (USA) Israel-Cycling Academy
98 Meng Yan (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team
99 Tegshbayar Batsaikhan (Mgl) RTS Racing Team
100 Zhishan Zhang (Chn) Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team
101 Itamar Einhorn (Isr) Israel-Cycling Academy
102 Ito Masakazu (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
103 Bo Wang (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team
104 Tom Fitzpatrick (GBr) RTS Racing Team
105 Nathan Elliott (Aus) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team
106 Yi Chang Wu (Tpe) RTS Racing Team
107 Fabio Calabria (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk
108 Kohei Uchima (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
109 Mingdong Wang (Chn) Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team
110 Hayato Yoshida (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
111 Clint Hendricks (RSA) Bike Aid
112 Matthias Schnapka (Ger) Bike Aid
113 Mauricio Ortega Ramirez (Col) Ningxia Sports Lottery Livall Cycling Team
114 Timo Schäfer (Ger) Bike Aid
115 Rodrigo Araque Lorente (Spa) Team Ukyo
116 Stefan Bissegger (Swi) Switzerland
117 Kohei Yokotsuka (Jpn) Team Ukyo
118 Chao Kai Chin (Tpe) RTS Racing Team
119 Robin Meyer (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
120 Ayden Toovey (Aus) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team
121 Hiroki Nishimura (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
122 Zhihui Jiang (Chn) Mitchelton-Scott
123 Joab Schneiter (Swi) Switzerland
124 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF
125 Declan Irvine (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk
126 Lucas Carstensen (Ger) Bike Aid
127 Joeri Stallaert (Bel) Team Vorarlberg Santic
128 Lukas Meiler (Ger) Team Vorarlberg Santic
129 Gian Friesecke (Swi) Team Vorarlberg Santic
130 Roy Goldstein (Isr) Israel-Cycling Academy 0:01:11
131 Manduo Liu (Chn) Giant Cycling Team 0:02:12
132 Simone Bevilacqua (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:03:11
133 Alex Turrin (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:07:19