Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) won the sprint in Beihai to win the opening stage of Tour of Guangxi on Thursday.
The teams of the fast men fought hard to put their sprinter in the best possible position. Mitchelton-Scott was the first team to hit out, setting up Trentin.
However, Ackermann got the jump on the Italian as he seemed to power to what looked like a sure win. On the very final meters though, Gaviria managed to pass the German on the inside and take the victory with well-timed bike-throw on the line.
“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,” said Gaviria. “The power in the legs was there to come around for the win.”
Tour of Guangxi 2019 – stage 1 results (Beihai – Beihai):
| 1 | Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) | 2:53:42 |
| 2 | Pascal Ackermann (Bora-hansgrohe) | ,, |
| 3 | Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) | ,, |
| 4 | Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Merida) | ,, |
| 5 | Matteo Moschetti (Trek-Segafredo) | ,, |
| 6 | Max Kanter (Team Sunweb) | ,, |
| 7 | Davide Martinelli (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | ,, |
| 8 | Jakub Mareczko (CCC) | ,, |
| 9 | Riccardo Minali (Israel Cycling Academy) | ,, |
| 10 | Davide Ballerini (Astana) | ,, |
