PREVIEW | Tour of Guangxi 2023 stage 1 - Kooij, De Lie, Milan, Welsford and Sam Bennett fight for first leader's jersey
Cycling
Preview. Stage 1 of the Tour of Guangxi is a day for the sprinters, the start of one of the final races of the season as we head deep into the fall.
Stage 1 of the race will start and finish in Beihai. It is a day with 135 kilometers on the menu and three laps of a long circuit. This one features a 1.5-kilometer ascent at 4.7% which ends with 17.5 kilometers to go, but it shouldn't prevent a bunch sprint. A non-technical bunch sprint wraps it up.
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Stage 1: Beihai - Beihai, 135.9 kilometers
The Weather

Map Tour of Guangxi 2023 stage 1
A breeze from the east. Not meaningless, but it shouldn't have much of an effect on this stage.
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The Favourites
Olav Kooij - Jumbo-Visma come in motivated, with a small team however with a nice leadout. Kooij has the speed with no doubt, the form too, and with the van Dijkes leading him out I would not be surprised to see the Dutch team continue to win.
Arnaud De Lie - De Lie will have an interesting week. He could actually be a contender for the overall classification and he'll have bonifications in mind. Perhaps there'll be stages better suited to him, not a pure sprint, but he will be a contender.
Sam Bennett - In his final race for BORA - hansgrohe, he was given a leadership role. Archbold and Mullen in the leadout, it actually is a good setup for the Irishman to perform. I wouldn't expect him to survive the climbs much but here it is about speed and on paper, he could still be able to do that.
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Jonathan Milan - points classification winner at the Giro d'Italia - will also be happy with a pan-flat finale at the end of a flat day. Sam Welsford, Arvid de Kleijn and Juan Sebastián Molano also pack a lot of speed and could surely fight for the stage win, with the right positioning.
Marijn van den Berg will be the sprinter hoping for differences on the climbs, the rest are riders happy with the flat roads. Jakub Mareczko is usually an interesting rider in the flat Asian races and could actually be in the mix as well. Itamar Einhorn, Elia Viviani, Max Walscheid and David Dekker are also part of the riders who can race for a Top10.
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Prediction Tour of Guangxi 2023 stage 1:
*** Olav Kooij, Jonathan Milan
** Arnaud de Lie, Sam Welsford, Juan Sebastián Molano
* Sam Bennett, Arvid de Kleijn, Marijn van den Berg, Max Kanter, Jakub Mareczko, Max Walscheid
** Arnaud de Lie, Sam Welsford, Juan Sebastián Molano
* Sam Bennett, Arvid de Kleijn, Marijn van den Berg, Max Kanter, Jakub Mareczko, Max Walscheid
Pick: Olav Kooij
Preview written by Rúben Silva.

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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- He lives in Monaco
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - It's also highly significant for Lorenzo Finn as he won there last year. Also Mateo Ramírez and Henrique Bravo if they go
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - This is a phenomenal course design. I do wish that they'd stretch these tours for the women to at least 2 weeks.RidesHills03-11-2026
- This is an amazing route, honestly. Let's hope that it attracts riders to make it a compelling and competitive race. Side bar amusement: going to Slovenia and passing pretty close to Pogačar's house. I wonder if they were tempting him to get all 3 jerseys at once after winning the Tour and Vuelta. After all, only a very few have ever had all three at the same time (Froome being the last).RidesHills03-11-2026
- He was a child two years ago
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - A great route aswell. Col d'Arpy is a toughie
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - Let Torito have a shot at it
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - A great route, much more exciting than the Tour de France. Monte Livata is an interesting one, because they experimented with it at the 2026 Baby Giro, and it was fantastic. 4 km at 10%, then 10 km at 6.5% made for a great spectacle. The stage 16 is horrible. Montaner is also used in the U23s, in Giro del Belvedere
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - I remember when Mark went through that. He was really experiencing lows and thought about quiting many times. It took him a long time to recover. I, like many others were overjoyed when he came back. I hope Lafay has been tested. I wish him the best.Paggss03-11-2026
- That sucks for him. I've always wondered what guys like him do after retiring from cycling - go back to uni? He's still a very young manCrashjames03-11-2026
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The winner of the 1st edition Tour of Guangxi @Tim_Wellens @TeamEmiratesUAE will be back in this year! The last UCI World Tour race of the season will on fire🔥🔥🔥 #tog2023🇨🇳 8 days to go!
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