Preview. After the queen stage the overall classification may be decided, but stage 5 of the Tour of Guangxi provides chances for attack. Meanwhile the sprinter teams will look to control the race into another bunch sprint.
Stage 5 is the longest of the race. With 209 kilometers in distance and a couple climbs, it can actually see a reduced bunch sprint. It depends on how the racing pans out. There is a quick combo of two ascents: 5Km at 3.3% and 4.5Km at 4.6% which summit with 41 and 35 kilometers to go.
Following the descent however the roads are pan-flat into Guilin with no traps before a regular sprint finish.
The Weather
No meaningful breeze to take into consideration, it will be a regular day on the bike.
The Favourites
Olav Kooij - After winning stage 3 it's safe to say that Kooij is back in the groove. Jumbo-Visma now have a race lead to defend and not many riders however, it's quite possible that he will not have the support he hopes for however if he can nail his positioning by himself taking the victory is very possible.
Arnaud De Lie - De Lie does not quite have the pure speed of some of the fast men in here however he can climb. These aren't the best suited ascents to the Belgian but they should wear down the field and make it a more friendly finale for him. Whether he can capitalize on it or not, we will see.
Arvid de Kleijn - The leader of Tudor has to be considered a big favourite at this point, having finished second to Jonathan Milan on stage 2 - and shown other strong results throughout the season. Tudor has had a good leadout including Rick Pluimers who was second behind Kooij recently and look very set on delivering to a season-changing win.
Many more sprinters will be looking for the victory however that is certain. Take Elia Viviani as a good example he won the first stage and it was his first World Tour win since 2019. That means a lot of space will be open for others to do something similar. Sam Bennett for example also has a big reason to perform on this stage, completing here his two rough seasons with BORA. Jonathan Milan will also be a prime favourite, the Italian has shown terrific sprint in the bunch finales however the climbing will hurt a big rider like him.
The likes of Marijn van den Berg and Tobias Lund Andresen on the opposite will be riders hoping for a very tough race up the climbs. Ethan Hayter could on paper also be mentioned here, nowehere to be seen on the sprints but he showed today that uphill he does have good form. Add Juan Sebastián Molano, Lionel Taminiaux, Max Kanter, Max Walscheid and Jon Aberasturi and we've got another fine sprint ahead. The ascents may see a few attacks since the GC will otherwise stay like this, however I see it as unlikely that there will be changes.
Prediction Tour of Guangxi 2023 stage 5:
*** Olav Kooij, Jonathan Milan
** Arnaud de Lie, Arvid de Kleijn, Marijn van den Berg
* Elia Viviani, Sam Bennett, Tobias Lund Andresen, Juan Sebastián Molano, Max Kanter
Pick: Olav Kooij
Preview written by Rúben Silva.
Place comments
0 Comments
You are currently seeing only the comments you are notified about, if you want to see all comments from this post, click the button below.
Show all comments