Tour of Hainan 2017 – Stage 9 [FULL STAGE]

November 05, 2017

Tour of Hainan 2017 – Stage 9 – Lingshui – Wanning Xinglong : 154,7 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.

New Zealand national champion Joe Cooper of IsoWhey Sports-Swisswellness fended off the whole peloton for the last 12 kilometres to claim the final stage of the Tour of Hainan ahead of Emils Liepins (Delko Marseille) and Andriy Kulyk (Kolss). Neo-pro Jacopo Mosca (Wilier Triestina) took his first-ever stage race overall victory despite losing the support of five-time stage winner Jakub Mareczko, who sustained a flat tyre with 10 kilometres to go.

“I still can’t believe that I’ve won the Tour of Hainan,” Mosca said. “I have to thank all my teammates because today again they’ve been fabulous. It’s a great emotion. It’ll take some time for me to realise what happened. Going for the time bonuses, [Marco] Zanotti and [Mykhaylo] Kononenko made me sweat until the very end.”

Cooper’s solo rush in the last twelve kilometers led him to stage victory, but the Kiwi had already been away by himself in the early part of the race, which happened to be a very competitive one in windy circumstances on the south part of China’s paradisiacal island.

As Mirko Maestri and Paolo Simion (Bardiani CSF), Jure Rupnik (H&R Block), Reid McClure (Novo Nordisk), Eugert Zhupa (Wilier Triestina), Oleksandr Prevar (Kolss), Steven Cuesta (Hainan Jilun), Lukas Spengler (Switzerland), Ivar Slik (Monkey Town), Rodrigo Araque (Ukyo), Jordan Cheyne (Jelly Belly) and Gian Friesecke (Vorarlberg) got caught at km 35, Cooper rode away from the bunch to win the KOM prizes on the two category 3 climbs shortly afterwards, while his teammate Sam Crome came second on each occasion to secure the polka dot jersey.

Cooper got reeled in after 60 kilometres, but went again with Alexis Cartier (H&R Block), Rob Stannard (Mitchelton-Scott) and Ulises Castillo (Jelly Belly). As a crucial intermediate sprint was looming at km 91, the quartet got pulled back and GC contenders Liepins, Kononenko and Zanotti sprinted in that order to snap up three, two and one bonus seconds, respectively.

Cartier, Cuesta and Gordian Banzer (Switzerland) then went on the move, rejoined by Simion, Michael Sheehan (Jelly Belly) and Reinier Honig (Vorarlberg). Wilier led the peloton and the breakaway only enjoyed a 35-second lead with 55km to go. Attacking machine Cartier went alone with 45km to go. Cartier and Sheehan led with 15km to go but as they got reeled in, Cooper escaped 12km before the end.

Mosca closely watched an attack by Marc De Maar (Hengxiang), but Mareczko’s puncture 10km before the end disturbed the plans of Wilier Triestina and their opponents. “We’ve been unlucky because had he been able to sprint, we could have relied on him to take the time bonuses,” Mosca commented. “But luckily, one rider went solo and collected the ten seconds of the win that were precious. He made a very strong action.”

“We didn’t really want a bunch kick because we didn’t have any sprinter in our team today,” Cooper explained. “We sort of invented a solo breakaway that was about twelve k long. I managed to hold on and avoid the bunch kick. We got the job done.” Kolss was trying to set up Kononenko for the sprint but they lost him in the last corner, so Kulyk went for it and came third.

Second placed Emils Liepins declared: “I’m not as disappointed as yesterday for missing out on the stage win because the time bonus for second place puts me third in GC. I think it’s very good because the Tour of Hainan also features a mountain stage and I’m a sprinter. It means I’ve had a good race overall. I’m happy with that. We thought we were going to catch the breakaway rider but this guy [Cooper] was very fast. I was just a little bit too late to pass him. I want to thank the team. They did a really good job to help me get this result. I hope it’ll help me find a team for next year.”

Results :
1 Joseph Cooper (NZl) Isowhey Sports Swisswellness 3:31:16
2 Emils Liepins (Lat) Rietumu Banka – Riga 0:00:01
3 Andriy Kulyk (Ukr) Kolss Cycling Team
4 Dylan Page (Swi) Switzerland
5 Marco Zanotti (Ita) Monkey Town Continental Team
6 Ivar Slik (Ned) Monkey Town Continental Team
7 Lukas Spengler (Swi) Switzerland
8 Polychronis Tzortzakis (Gre) Rts – Monton Racing Team
9 Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Spa) Team Ukyo
10 Mirco Maestri (Ita) Bardiani CSF
11 Martin Meiler (Ger) Team Vorarlberg
12 Zsolt Dér (Hun) Team Vorarlberg
13 Eugert Zhupa (Alb) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia
14 Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF
15 Robbie Hucker (Aus) Isowhey Sports Swisswellness
16 Jure Rupnik (Slo) H&R Block Pro Cycling Team
17 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF
18 Mykhaylo Kononenko (Ukr) Kolss Cycling Team
19 Paolo Lunardon (Ita) Rts – Monton Racing Team
20 Gordian Banzer (Swi) Switzerland
21 Zhiwen Chen (Chn) Giant Cycling Team
22 Martin Laas (Est) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
23 Patrick Schelling (Swi) Team Vorarlberg
24 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia
25 Jason Lea (Aus) Isowhey Sports Swisswellness
26 Thierry Hupond (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
27 Chris Prendergast (Can) H&R Block Pro Cycling Team
28 Jacob Rathe (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
29 Justin Paroz (Swi) Switzerland
30 Marc De Maar (Ned) Hengxiang Cycling Team
31 Robert Stannard (Aus) Mitchelton Scott
32 Dimitri Bussard (Swi) Switzerland
33 Alex Turrin (Ita) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia
34 Maarten De Jonge (Ned) Monkey Town Continental Team
35 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
36 Gian Friesecke (Swi) Team Vorarlberg
37 Umberto Poli (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
38 Benjami Prades Reverter (Spa) Team Ukyo
39 Sam Crome (Aus) Isowhey Sports Swisswellness
40 Jai Hindley (Aus) Mitchelton Scott
41 Martin Schäppi (Swi) Switzerland
42 Jordan Cheyne (Can) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
43 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
44 Oscar Pujol Munoz (Spa) Team Ukyo
45 Martin Lavrič (Slo) Attaque Team Gusto
46 Jianpeng Liu (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team
47 Sven Van Luijk (Ned) Monkey Town Continental Team
48 Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
49 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Team Vorarlberg
50 Joab Schneiter (Swi) Switzerland 0:00:11
51 Andriy Vasylyuk (Ukr) Kolss Cycling Team 0:00:14
52 Sergiy Grechyn (Ukr) Hainan Jilun Cycling Team
53 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:00:19
54 Jonathan Couanon (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:00:29
55 Mingrun Chen (Chn) 0:00:35
56 Oleksandr Polivoda (Ukr) Kolss Cycling Team
57 Yadong Wang (Chn)
58 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk
59 Bo Wang (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team
60 Jiankun Liu (Chn) Mitchelton Scott
61 Taylor Shelden (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:01:00
62 Travis Samuel (Can) H&R Block Pro Cycling Team 0:01:03
63 Radoslav Konstantinov (Bul) Hainan Jilun Cycling Team 0:01:21
64 Stephan Bakker (Ned) Monkey Town Continental Team
65 Rick Van Breda (Ned) Monkey Town Continental Team 0:02:07
66 Cristian Andres Peña Meneses (Col) Rts – Monton Racing Team 0:02:13
67 Vitaliy Buts (Ukr) Kolss Cycling Team
68 Ulises Alfredo Castillo Soto (Mex) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
69 Alexis Cartier (Can) H&R Block Pro Cycling Team
70 Zheng Zhang (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team
71 Wen Chung Huang (Tpe) Attaque Team Gusto
72 Steven Manuel Cuesta Zamora (Col) Hainan Jilun Cycling Team
73 Juan Jose De Jesus Carrero Acosta (Col) Hainan Jilun Cycling Team
74 Reid Mcclure (Can) Team Novo Nordisk
75 Michael Sheehan (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
76 Reinier Honig (Ned) Team Vorarlberg
77 Benjamin Dyball (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team
78 Marco Maronese (Ita) Bardiani CSF
79 Joris Blokker (Ned) Monkey Town Continental Team
80 Andrii Bratashchuk (Ukr) Kolss Cycling Team
81 Samuel Jenner (Aus) Mitchelton Scott
82 Rodrigo Araque Lorente (Spa) Team Ukyo
83 Lukas Meiler (Ger) Team Vorarlberg
84 Oleksandr Prevar (Ukr) Kolss Cycling Team
85 Mikel Aristi Gardoki (Spa) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:02:24
86 Hang Shi (Chn) Giant Cycling Team 0:03:51
87 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia 0:06:05
88 Giuseppe Fonzi (Ita) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia 0:07:55
89 Ilia Koshevoy (Blr) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia
90 Luca Raggio (Ita) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia
91 Simone Sterbini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Tanzou Tokuda (Jpn) Team Ukyo
DNF Eiichi Hirai (Jpn) Team Ukyo
DNF Abdullojon Akparov (Uzb) Beijing Xds – Innova Cycling Team
DNF Meng Yan (Chn)

Final General Classification :
1 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia 36:41:27
2 Benjami Prades Reverter (Spa) Team Ukyo 0:00:03
3 Emils Liepins (Lat) Rietumu Banka – Riga 0:00:05
4 Marco Zanotti (Ita) Monkey Town Continental Team 0:00:06
5 Mykhaylo Kononenko (Ukr) Kolss Cycling Team
6 Marc De Maar (Ned) Hengxiang Cycling Team 0:00:08
7 Jianpeng Liu (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team 0:00:15
8 Patrick Schelling (Swi) Team Vorarlberg 0:00:20
9 Oscar Pujol Munoz (Spa) Team Ukyo
10 Robbie Hucker (Aus) Isowhey Sports Swisswellness 0:00:21
11 Gordian Banzer (Swi) Switzerland
12 Dimitri Bussard (Swi) Switzerland
13 Jai Hindley (Aus) Mitchelton Scott
14 Thierry Hupond (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
15 Alex Turrin (Ita) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia
16 Jordan Cheyne (Can) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:00:25
17 Andriy Vasylyuk (Ukr) Kolss Cycling Team 0:00:30
18 Justin Paroz (Swi) Switzerland 0:00:52
19 Maarten De Jonge (Ned) Monkey Town Continental Team 0:00:57
20 Joseph Cooper (NZl) Isowhey Sports Swisswellness 0:01:28
21 Ivar Slik (Ned) Monkey Town Continental Team 0:01:52
22 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:01:54
23 Gian Friesecke (Swi) Team Vorarlberg 0:01:55
24 Sam Crome (Aus) Isowhey Sports Swisswellness 0:02:04
25 Mirco Maestri (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:03:06
26 Joab Schneiter (Swi) Switzerland 0:03:20
27 Bo Wang (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team
28 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:03:28
29 Chris Prendergast (Can) H&R Block Pro Cycling Team 0:03:42
30 Oleksandr Prevar (Ukr) Kolss Cycling Team
31 Taylor Shelden (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:04:16
32 Mingrun Chen (Chn) 0:04:26
33 Andrii Bratashchuk (Ukr) Kolss Cycling Team 0:04:58
34 Robert Stannard (Aus) Mitchelton Scott 0:05:48
35 Radoslav Konstantinov (Bul) Hainan Jilun Cycling Team 0:06:30
36 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Team Vorarlberg 0:07:52
37 Jason Lea (Aus) Isowhey Sports Swisswellness
38 Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:07:57
39 Martin Schäppi (Swi) Switzerland 0:08:27
40 Jacob Rathe (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:09:13
41 Marco Maronese (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:09:52
42 Cristian Andres Peña Meneses (Col) Rts – Monton Racing Team 0:10:04
43 Sergiy Grechyn (Ukr) Hainan Jilun Cycling Team 0:14:48
44 Oleksandr Polivoda (Ukr) Kolss Cycling Team 0:18:19
45 Ilia Koshevoy (Blr) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia 0:21:15
46 Vitaliy Buts (Ukr) Kolss Cycling Team 0:21:32
47 Rodrigo Araque Lorente (Spa) Team Ukyo 0:22:55
48 Sven Van Luijk (Ned) Monkey Town Continental Team 0:23:26
49 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk 0:25:05
50 Zhiwen Chen (Chn) Giant Cycling Team 0:25:37
51 Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:26:45
52 Reinier Honig (Ned) Team Vorarlberg 0:26:46
53 Juan Jose De Jesus Carrero Acosta (Col) Hainan Jilun Cycling Team 0:27:17
54 Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Spa) Team Ukyo 0:27:25
55 Yadong Wang (Chn) 0:29:12
56 Andriy Kulyk (Ukr) Kolss Cycling Team 0:29:39
57 Mikel Aristi Gardoki (Spa) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:29:51
58 Umberto Poli (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk 0:30:07
59 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk 0:30:08
60 Jiankun Liu (Chn) Mitchelton Scott 0:33:25
61 Travis Samuel (Can) H&R Block Pro Cycling Team 0:33:39
62 Steven Manuel Cuesta Zamora (Col) Hainan Jilun Cycling Team 0:34:04
63 Dylan Page (Swi) Switzerland 0:34:06
64 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:34:16
65 Lukas Spengler (Swi) Switzerland
66 Wen Chung Huang (Tpe) Attaque Team Gusto 0:34:36
67 Luca Raggio (Ita) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia 0:34:51
68 Simone Sterbini (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:35:15
69 Ulises Alfredo Castillo Soto (Mex) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:36:26
70 Samuel Jenner (Aus) Mitchelton Scott 0:36:52
71 Jonathan Couanon (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:36:56
72 Zsolt Dér (Hun) Team Vorarlberg 0:37:55
73 Lukas Meiler (Ger) Team Vorarlberg 0:38:42
74 Jure Rupnik (Slo) H&R Block Pro Cycling Team 0:39:09
75 Michael Sheehan (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:39:44
76 Martin Laas (Est) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:40:30
77 Eugert Zhupa (Alb) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia 0:41:08
78 Zheng Zhang (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team 0:41:15
79 Reid Mcclure (Can) Team Novo Nordisk 0:41:21
80 Benjamin Dyball (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:41:32
81 Stephan Bakker (Ned) Monkey Town Continental Team 0:42:19
82 Martin Meiler (Ger) Team Vorarlberg 0:42:27
83 Joris Blokker (Ned) Monkey Town Continental Team 0:43:05
84 Hang Shi (Chn) Giant Cycling Team 0:43:19
85 Rick Van Breda (Ned) Monkey Town Continental Team 0:43:46
86 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia 0:46:06
87 Giuseppe Fonzi (Ita) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia 0:48:53
88 Alexis Cartier (Can) H&R Block Pro Cycling Team 0:52:20
89 Polychronis Tzortzakis (Gre) Rts – Monton Racing Team 0:54:17
90 Paolo Lunardon (Ita) Rts – Monton Racing Team 0:56:22
91 Martin Lavrič (Slo) Attaque Team Gusto 0:57:34