Modolo Takes Final Stage of Final Beijing Tour; Gilbert Wins Overall
Philippe Gilbert (BMC) has won the Tour of Beijing. The Belgian claimed victory in the race’s final edition moments after Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) took a bunch sprint to win Stage 5, a flat, 117-km circuit race from Tiananmen Square to Bird’s Nest Piazza in 2:40:10. Greg Henderson (Lotto-Belisol) and Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) finished second and third, respectively.
From the start, the racing was fast. At about 25 km, Laurent Mangel (FDJ.fr) and Tosh Van der Sande (Lotto-Belisol) got clear. The pair led the field into the first of 12 laps of Olympic Park. With five of the laps ridden, the break led the bunch by 3:15.
The peloton chased and closed to within 1:10 with four laps to go, but the escapees widened the gap to 2:42 with two laps remaining. Belkin, Garmin-Sharp, Sky, and Lampre-Merida went to the front and chased hard. With 800 m left, Mangel and Van der Sande were caught. Modolo was the best positioned of the sprinters; the Italian jumped into the lead and held off his pursuers.
Modolo’s victory was his first since June, so he found it particularly satisfying. “I won in Suisse but then I had a bad Tour de France and crashed at the Eneco Tour and struggled,” Modolo said. “I’ve been at home training for a month and so to win is hugely satisfying for me and for the team who helped me here.”
Race winner Gilbert was unenthusiastic about traveling to China for the Beijing Tour, but he grew to enjoy the race, particularly after he began winning it. “At the beginning I was thinking ‘I don’t want to go there, it’s a long trip and the season has been long and so on,’” the Belgian said. “But now I’m there and I enjoy the race. It’s a nice country when the sky is clear. It’s a nice experience.”
In the overall, Gilbert beat Dan Martin (Garmin-Sharp) by 0:03 and Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge) by 0:09. In other competitions, Moreno Hofland (Belkin) took the Young Rider classification, Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) won the Points classification, Michal Golas (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) snared the Mountains classification, and Orica-GreenEdge took the Team competition. Thanks for following the Tour of Beijing at www.roadcycling.com!
