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Matevž Govekar (Bahrain Victorious) gained the ultimate stage of the Gree-Tour of Guangxi, claiming the dash from a diminished peloton whereas Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Dstny) secured the general victory by ending among the many lead bunch after getting into the purple chief’s jersey on Saturday’s summit end.
Marijn van den Berg (EF Training-EasyPost) got here second within the hard-fought remaining stage race of the WorldTour for 2024. He simply held off Robert Stannard who made it two riders for Bahrain-Victorious on the rostrum within the 134km stage 6, run over 5 loops punctuated with a class 2 climb.
Van Eetvelt came to visit the Nanning end line in twenty fifth place, safely throughout the lead bunch of over 30 riders, on a dynamic day of racing the place little was left settled till the ultimate levels.
The younger Lotto-Dstny rider, nonetheless, performed his playing cards with aplomb to efficiently make each his first and final WorldTour races of the 12 months common classification profitable outings.
“Beginning within the chief’s jersey on the final day is at all times disturbing. You already know that everybody will trip in opposition to you, however it’s also nice to have the ability to trip in that jersey,” Van Eetvelt stated later. “Earlier than the beginning, we stated that nobody from UAE Emirates was allowed to affix the breakaway, definitely not Tim Wellens and Pavel Sivakov.”
“Ultimately we determined to let Tim go, to attempt to management him afterwards. I feel that was the proper choice. The boys rode very strongly and by chance we additionally bought some assist from DSM-Firmenich PostNL. That made it potential to maintain the break inside vary. There have been additionally plenty of assaults after the final climb, however I nonetheless felt superb myself. It is nice to nonetheless have the ability to do that on the final day.
“When you had instructed me earlier than the beginning of the season that I might win one WorldTour race, I might have been very blissful. However to win two, that’s– I don’t actually give it some thought, however I might be more than pleased with this.”
The 23-year-old Belgian additionally swept up the youth classification, claiming each the purple and white jersey forward of Oscar Onley (dsm-firmenich-PostNL) whereas Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech) held onto the factors jersey win by only one level.
Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal-Quickstep) clinched the mountains classification, which for some time checked out threat after a throw of the cube from second-placed Tim Wellens (UAE Crew Emirates) was neutralised simply as the ultimate factors have been nearby.
The way it unfolded
There have been 117 riders lined up for the ultimate stage of the final WorldTour race of the season on Sunday, numerous the 129 starters lacking resulting from crashes earlier within the occasion, however with a final probability at a top-tier victory for 2024 at stake, the competitors was nonetheless as fierce as ever.
The circuit across the capital metropolis of Guangxi, which the riders would sort out 5 instances, included a class 2 climb – 1.4km with a mean gradient of 11.7% – every lap. The King of the Mountain factors have been up for grabs on the primary, third and fifth lap whereas the intermediate sprints fell on laps two and 4.
Van Eetvelt had began the day with a five-second lead on the general classification to second-placed Oscar Onley (dsm-firmenich PostNL), whereas within the factors competitors Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech) was sitting on 38 factors, 9 forward of Max Kanter (Astana-Qazaqstan). Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal-Quickstep) bought to line up within the polka dot jersey once more, with 28 factors in mountain classification and Tim Wellens (UAE Crew Emirates) was subsequent with 20, which meant all have been nonetheless in play on the ultimate day.
When the flag dropped it was instantly a quick and livid competitors. The primary KOM factors at 5.9km – 8, 4 and a couple of – have been swept up by Rémi Cavagna (Movistar), Pavel Sivakov (UAE Crew Emirates) and Max Poole (DSM Firmenich-Publish NL). Then it wasn’t lengthy earlier than there was a break and a cut up within the peloton that Van Eetvelt managed to remain on the proper facet of.
Wellens jumped right into a break of eight and with two KOM factors alternatives to go it’s no shock that Reinderink was amongst those that went off in pursuit of the rider who was in second place within the mountains classification that he was main.
The Soudal-Quickstep rider, nonetheless, didn’t make the junction and it was round a minute hole to the lead group with 100km of racing remaining. The group included Wellens, Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Lidl-Trek), Tosh Van der Sande (Visma-Lease a Bike), Stan Dewulf (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Michael Leonard (Ineos Grenadiers) and Esteban Chaves (EF Training-EasyPost).
Wellens swept up the highest dash factors at 52.4km into the day of racing however he didn’t handle to repeat with the KOM factors at 60km, with Dewulf and Ghebreigzabhier cresting forward of him and leaving simply two factors for the third-placed Wellens. Nevertheless, there was nonetheless one other alternative to bridge the factors hole if Wellens may maintain on on the entrance for the ultimate climb at round 20km to go.
By the midway level of the ultimate day of racing within the WorldTour for 2024, the hole was nearer to 2 minutes, although that was earlier than the tempo heated up within the peloton. A gaggle of riders shedding contact additionally fashioned out the again, Reinderink amongst it, which means there was little he may do to counter Wellens in his pursuit of the ultimate mountain factors.
The hole between the leaders and the peloton was all the way down to 45 seconds by the 33km to go. By the ultimate climb the lead group was in attain, caught at 20km to go and with that junction went Wellen’s probability to seize the mountains classification.
The sector was splintering on the climb, however Van Eetvelt was ever attentive on the entrance, decided to not let his hard-earned general lead slip on the remaining go. Sivakov swept up the ultimate lot of 8 KOM factors, with Van Eetvelt second and Alex Baudin (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) third.
There have been assaults, however none that lasted and it was now a drastically diminished peloton heading to the road for the ultimate time, with little greater than 30 riders nonetheless in rivalry because the kilometres ticked underneath 5 to go.
There have been makes an attempt to get a soar however ultimately, it got here all the way down to a spread-out dash, with Bahrain-Victorious making their presence felt on the entrance. Govekar dashed out from Van den Berg’s wheel at simply the proper second to say his first WorldTour victory whereas Stannard crept up behind to take third, hitting the rostrum for the primary time since his return to the peloton in September.
Sunday’s stage accomplished the WorldTour season for 2024, with the Tour Down Underneath opening up the brand new season on January 21, 2025.
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