While the youngsters dominated the finale of stage 5, their older colleagues looked down the tubes: Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Dstny) won the mountain finish in Nongla after 166 kilometres ahead of Oscar Onley (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) and Alex Baudin (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale). The 23-year-old winner from Belgium was two seconds faster than his British rival, who is one year younger, and the Frenchman, also 23, who finished nine seconds later.
Earlier, Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates, 33) and Victor Lafay (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, 28) had opened the final. However, both were caught on the up to 20 per cent steep ramps on the last kilometre. Lafay was still in the lead 100 metres before the finish, but then had to watch as the younger generation of top climbers passed him.
Van Eetvelt took the lead in the overall standings with his fifth win of his career and is now five seconds ahead of Onley. Ahead of the final stage, which is likely to end in another bunch sprint, he has the best chance of winning his second WorldTour this year, having won the UAE Tour at the start of the year.
Tour of Guangxi 2024 - Results at a glance
Stage 5: Yizhou - Nongla
Gree-Tour of Guangxi 2024: Stage 5, Yizhou - Nongla
| Rnk. | Riders | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lotto Dstny | 03:36:18 |
| 2 | Team dsm-firmenich PostNL | +00:00:02 |
| 3 | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | +00:00:09 |
| 4 | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | +00:00:09 |
| 5 | UAE Team Emirates | +00:00:11 |
| 6 | Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe | +00:00:15 |
Tour of Guangxi 2024 - How the 5th stage went
As on the previous day, it was a quartet that formed the breakaway group of the day. And as on the previous day, Stefan Bissegger (EF Education Easy Post) was part of it. He was joined by his team-mate Jonas Rutsch and the winner of stage 2, Warre Vangheluwe (Soudal - Quick Step) and Koen Bouwman (Team Visma | Lease a Bike). Their maximum lead over the field: just over three minutes.
Intermittent rain had cleared in time for the finale of the queen stage of the tour. The almost five-kilometre-long climb to Nongla awaited, which only had an average gradient of 6.7 per cent, but became extremely steep at up to 20 per cent in the final kilometre. Rutsch did not make it to the front of the peloton. He was dropped eleven kilometres before the finish. The remaining trio had saved themselves until three and a half kilometres before the finish.
At around this point, Max Kanter (Astana Qazqastan) in the red jersey and Filip Maciejuk (Red Bull - Bora -Hansgrohe) in the white jersey had to let go of the peloton, which was still just under 40 riders strong. The pace in the peloton slowly increased, with Wellens launching the first attack 1.6 kilometres from the end. The Belgian had won the first edition of the Tour of Guangxi in 2017 - with a San this climb in Nongla.
Lafay needed a few metres to close the gap, but then docked onto Wellens' rear wheel and passed him as the race entered the final kilometre. The gap to the chasers, which had shrunk to eight riders and was led by Van Eetvelt and Onley, opened up to around 20 seconds. Wellens was caught 500 metres before the finish, with Lafay only reaching the Belgian-British duo at the 100-metre mark. However, due to the extreme gradient, there was still a long way to go. Onley, who had closed the gap, was then unable to make any headway in the final 25 metres as Van Eetvelt flew past him.
