Preview, favourites, profile, route and predictions Tour of Guangxi 2025 stage 5 - UAE main favourites for the win; Can Magnier keep the race lead on queen stage?
Cycling
The Tour of Guangxi is the final World Tour event of the year and it closes out the calendar in Asia. China hosts the six-day race where there are still lots of UCI points to attribute and some meaningful victories too. Stage 5 will take place on the 18th of October. The stage is set to start at 05:12CET and finish at 08:40CET.
As is the case every year, the race returns to have its queen stage into Nongla. It's an 'unipuerto' stage as the Spanish would call it, completely flat day with one climb coinciding with the finish - which just so happens to be short and quite steep, as is usually the case in Spain too.
The climb is 3.2 kilometers long at 7.3% and early attacks can be dangerous, but most riders will wait for the final 1.2 kilometers which average almost 15%. It's a very steep and brutal finale, fit for the puncheurs and also climbers, and where the decisive differences in the race should be created.
UAE is the team to beat here, you can't say the stage will be hard to control for anyone so it will be a matter of keeping the powder dry until the final climb, doing a proper leadout and then having the best legs in what is an anaerobic effort - where the final 1.2 kilometers will matter, an attack beforehand is likely suicidal.
In both Jhonatan Narváez and Jan Christen the team has options to fight for the win, but there is a quality group of riders that have good form and can contest it Victor Lafay, Mikkel Honoré, Thomas Gloag and Paul Double are men to take into consideration, whilst the likes of Pello Bilbao and Roger Adrià could also take the win if they find their best form.
It will also be interesting to see how the in-form Paul Magnier can survive this climb, having 33 seconds of lead over Narváez who is the first of the big GC riders, and 40 over the majority of his rivals. He can climb to some degree, so it'll be interesting to see if the overall win will be possible.
Read also
Stage 5: Yizhou - Nongla
Yizhou - Nongla, 165.8 kilometers
Prediction Tour of Guangxi stage 5:
*** Jhonatan Narváez, Jan Christen
** Victor Lafay, Mikkel Honoré, Thomas Gloag, Paul Double
* Ewen Costiou, Pello Bilbao, Aurélien Paret-Peintre, Remy Rochas, Roger Adrià, Jorgen Nordhagen, Anthon Charmig
** Victor Lafay, Mikkel Honoré, Thomas Gloag, Paul Double
* Ewen Costiou, Pello Bilbao, Aurélien Paret-Peintre, Remy Rochas, Roger Adrià, Jorgen Nordhagen, Anthon Charmig
Pick: Jhonatan Narváez
How: UAE will pace hard in the first part of the climb and the Ecuadorian will be the strongest on the steep wall to the finish.
Original: Rúben Silva
Jhonatan Narváez could net another win for UAE. @Sirotti
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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