GONGHE, China, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Hernan Aguirre took the first place in the fourth stage of the Tour of Qinghai Lake on Wednesday as the Interpro Cycling Academy rider was victorious in a two-horse race against Colombian Robinson Chalapud (Medellin) in the final stretch.
In third was the Australian Benjamin Dyball of Sapura Energy Cycling team.
Colombian Robinson Chalapud may have been beaten in the final sprint, but he is the new leader of the race in a total of 9:35:51. Luca Pacioni (Neri Selle Italia KTM) has maintained the green sprinter's jersey.
Chalapud becoming the new leader only reiterates the incredible form that the entire Medellin team are in.
"I feel very good and I managed to recover quite quickly from a bad fall a few months ago," the humble Colombian said. "Wearing the leader's jersey is always nice but the captain of our team remains Oscar Sevilla."
Wednesday's stage started in Guide and wound through more of China's spectacular mountains to arrive in Longyangxia town, after 100km of hilly terrain. The race began at a high pace, with three main competitors vying for the aggressive lead. Chalapud, Artur Fedosseyev (Shenzen Xidesheng Cycling team) and Aguirre led the breakaway after the second steep ascent of the race. The group pursuing the breakaway pack slowly diminished to less than 20 riders as Chalapud and Aguirre locked horns in the final fight.
"The last sprint was very fast, downhill. I tried my best and I won," Aguirre said simply.
He claimed his success from knowledge of the stage of last year, when he won but the entire Tour.
In his home of Colombia he lives at 3,000m, making the arduous altitude of Qinghai less stressful than it is for other riders. The general classification however may prove a tougher challenge.
"Winning the general will be difficult because of the gap after the time trial," Aguirre explained. "But the team will do everything to give me a hand."
In team rankings after stage four, Colombia's Medellin came in first place in 27:09:29. China's Tianyoude Hotel Cycling team came in second in 27:12:31, followed by French team Delko Marseille Provence, trailing 5:23 behind the leader.
Iran's Saeid Safarzadeh from Tianyoude Hotel Cycling is the best Asian rider in 9:38:59. Artur Fedosseyev of Kazakhstan is second for Shenzhen Xidesheng Cycling (1:51 behind) and China's Liu Jiankun is in third for Mitchelton-BikeExchange (2:04 behind) in Asian riders classification.
