Sitting in the ideal position at the end of the Liquigas sprint train and then surging powerfully to come past yesterday’s victor Elia Viviani, Denis Galimzyanov (Katusha) grabbed the win on the final stage of the Tour of Beijing today.
The Russian cemented his grip on his green points jersey with the win, beating Juan Jose Haedo (Saxo Bank SunGard) and Viviani to the line. Matteo Trentin (Quick Step) and Sky’s Davide Appollonio were fourth and fifth.
“Of course I am very, very happy because this is my first victory on the ProTour [WorldTour],” Galimzyanov said afterwards. “I needed the team to bring me to the last kilometre in a good position and they did it.
“I am happy about the jersey of course, but I am happier about the stage. For me it is much more important. I am in good condition and I did my job but today was my last race for the season and to win the race is amazing.”
Today’s 118 kilometre stage played out as expected, with a break opening a small advantage, mopping up the intermediate sprints and being caught near the end. Today’s escapees were Alexandr Pliushin (Katusha), Francesco Reda (Quick Step) and Liewe Westra (Vacansoleil) and while they fought hard, there was no denying the sprinters.
Overnight race leader Tony Martin (HTC Highroad) had no major difficulties on what was a quiet day in the bunch and sealed his final victory. He led the race from start to finish and while his victory was a reflection of a strong ride by him and his team, the wisdom of having a time trial on the first day followed by several mainly flat stages will be questioned by those who would have preferred more suspense.
Martin beat David Millar (Garmin-Cervélo) by 17 seconds, with the Vuelta a España runner-up Chris Froome (Sky Procycling) nine seconds further back in third. It was his second overall WorldTour victory this year, following his triumph in Paris-Nice back in March. It is also the final major stage race victory for the HTC Highroad team, which is stopping at the end of this season.
"Putting on the rainbow jersey was really nice and gave me a lot of confidence coming into this race,” he said afterwards. “I knew I still had good form and I had a really strong team to back me up. I'm really happy that it all worked out.”
Others who were very pleased with how the Tour of Beijing went were mountains classification winner Igor Anton (Euskatel Euskadi) and Team Radioshack’s Ben King. The latter kept his lead in the best young rider classification, wearing the white jersey in the final podium presentations.
“This is really special for me. It is my first WorldTour stage race and it has been an incredible experience to have my team-mates taking care of me,” he explained. “Last year I was just doing my best in US domestic races. I am young and want to improve and having the trust and support of team-mates is the best way to learn. Today we had lots of sponsors here and it is great to go on the podium in front of them to reward their investment.”
Predictable pattern of racing on final day:
The riders faced a very flat 118 kilometres on the final day of the race, departing from the infamous Tiananmen Square and travelling eighteen kilometres to the Olympic Park, then covering twelve laps of approximately eight kilometres.
One riders didn’t start; Jack Bobridge (Garmin-Cervélo), who had been suffering with a sore knee and was last on GC. He is due to compete in next week’s Jayco Herald Sun Tour but his participation in that race now looks shaky.
The first rider to try his luck was the ever-aggressive Thomas de Gent (Vacansoleil), but he didn’t get far. Things were all together seven kilometres into the stage, but then three riders succeeded in getting clear. Moldovan national champion Alexandr Pliushin (Katusha), Francesco Reda (Quick Step) and Liewe Westra (Vacansoleil) had half a minute’s lead started the first of the laps of the finishing circuit, and continued to gain time. With nine laps remaining their lead was up to one minute 30 seconds, and the HTC Highroad-led peloton allowed it to increase a little more.
Pliushin picked up the first of the intermediate sprints, which took place on the second passage over the finish line. He was also quickest at the next two, starting laps six and nine.
With three laps to go things were well under the control of the peloton, which was just 50 seconds back and preparing for the inevitable bunch gallop. It was led by race leader Tony Martin’s HTC Highroad team, as well as the Rabobank squad of Theo Bos.
The advantage continued to drop and starting the penultimate lap, the gap was less than twenty seconds. Even with the thick Beijing fog, the break was well within sight and was, for all intents and purposes, doomed. It was caught soon afterwards and the addition of the Liquigas team to the train only furthered the expectation that things would stay together from that point.
The HTC Highroad team led the bunch past the bell. The Quick Step team then ramped up the pace, working well together to stretch out the peloton. However they weren’t quick enough to stay at the head of affairs and were replaced soon afterwards by Saxo Bank SunGard. Heading into the final kilometre, it was Rabobank at the front but they too were overhauled, with the Liquigas and Garmin-Cervélo teams surging forward.
After a big turn from David Millar, Liquigas kicked hard to set up yesterday’s winner Elia Viviani. He hit the front with 200 metres to go but Denis Galimzyanov (Katusha) was far quicker and surged past. He had started the day as leader of the points classification and cemented that victory with the sprint win.
JJ Haedo (Saxo Bank SunGard) put in a similarly impressive finishing burst but came from too far back and had to be content with second, one place ahead of Viviani.
His directeur sportif Philippe Mauduit said after the stage that he was pleased with the result, but felt that the victory may have been possible had things played out a little differently. “JJ once again showed his fantastic skills after being supported and put in a good position for the finale,” he stated. “He simply needs that little bit of luck to take the win. The whole team has been doing a fantastic job all week.
“They were always there showing initiative and helping JJ in the bunch sprints so I'm pleased with the guys' work. Naturally, a stage win would have put the icing on the cake for us.”
Sky Procycling is another squad that would have liked to have picked up a stage win, but it scored well in another aspect. It was the clear victor in the teams' classification, beating Omega Pharma Lotto and Rabobank by 59 seconds and one minute 8 seconds respectively.