GUIDE, China, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Eduard Grosu has taken the victory in the third stage of the Tour of Qinghai Lake from Douba to Guide, a 140-kilometer mountain race in 3:21:14 on Tuesday.
Behind the Romanian from Delko Marseille Provence were Luca Pacioni (Neri Selle Italia KTM) and Jonathan Monsalve (Tianyoude Hotel Cycling Team).
The new overall leader of the Tour is Oscar Sevilla Rivera from Colombian team Medellin with the Spaniard continuing his impressive run.
Beginning in Douba, the 140km race weaved through gorgeous mountains and pastures to arrive at Guide. The notoriously difficult climb to the first KOM of this year's race was located at 3,820m above sea level - a grim reminder of the intense level of athleticism on show.
A breakaway of Colombian riders saw Alvaro Duarte earn the KOM polka-dot jersey (China Continental Team of Gansu Bank) for his gruelling work ascending the mountain.
The descent however told a different story. Grosu explained on the downhill his team went "full gas" and then put two riders in the front to lead the aggressiveness and control the pack. They jostled with Neri during the descent but Grosu put his victory down to his teammates' performance and experience gained from 2018.
"I won this stage last year so I know how to manage it," Grosu told reporters. "Today I feel so strong and I know if I'm in a good position I can win the race."
With Grosu's win Tuesday and his teammate Brenton Jones' stage victory on Monday, the Delko Marseille sprinters are proving formidable and they are both confident looking to the next stages of the race.
"I think it's perfect. Two victories in three stages, it's perfect, we cannot expect more," added he.
Colombian team Medellin extended their overall lead as Sevilla Rivera took over the yellow jersey from his teammate Weimar Roldan Ortiz in a total time of 6:53:37.
The first stage winner Robigzon Oyola of Colombia was in second with the same time, followed by other three Medellin riders Cristhian Giraldo, Robinson Gomez and Walter Alzate.
The best result for non-Medellin riders went to Carlos Quintero Norena of Colombia, racing for Ningxia Sports Lottery, trailing the leader 1:28.
Thanks to overall strong performance, Medellin leads the team rankings in 19:01:37. Chinese team Ningxia Sports Lottery is 1:28 behind in second place and another team from China Mitchelton-BikeExchange is in third, 2:19 lagging behind.
