Sohrabi takes stage and overall lead

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Mehdi Sohrabi (Tabriz Petrochemical Team) continued his recent run of good form as he won stage two ahead of breakaway companion David McCann (Giant Kenda), the defending race champion. The 29-year-old Iranian, fresh off his recent win in the Jelajeh Malaysia stage race, was too much for McCann on the uphill finish as he crossed the line three seconds clear of the Irishman.

Shinri Suzuki (Shimano Racing Team) took the sprint for third from a 21-rider chase group, 1:08 behind Sohrabi.

"I believe that I have more experience in a sprint like this," said Sohrabi. "He might challenge me for the jersey in the next few days but I think that I have enough in me to be competitive.

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"I'm happy to win the stage and also take over the yellow jersey. But every day is a new race and we have to be prepared for anything."

With the stage win, Sohrabi also grabbed race leader's yellow jersey with a seven-second advantage over McCann. Overnight leader Adam Phelan (Drapac) drops to third overall, 1:12 back, but the Australian still leads the best young rider classification.

"Today was the first real stage and it was tough," said Phelan. "The last climb was a real test on the legs but I knew that things can easily change.

"There were a lot of attacking today and that made it really hard. But the days are still long and there are several more stages to go, I believe that we still have the chance to make a challenge."

Just two kilometres after the start at the New Taipei City Hall, local rider Feng Chun Kai (Action Cycling Team) went on the attack and scooped up the first KOM points at Huai En Plaza 21 kilometres later.

Feng Chun Kai was then joined by Lachlan Norris (Drapac) and Herwin Jaya (Polygon Sweet Nice) but the trio were brought back prior to the first intermediate sprint, taken by Herwin's teammate Bambang Suryadi.

Immediately after the sprint, a group of five riders separated themselves from the peloton: Mehdi Sohrabi (Tabriz Petrochemical Team), Kyung Gu Jang (Korea), Chi Ho Yuen (Hong Kong), Amir Rusli (Drapac) and Michael Creed (Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth).

Sohrabi picked up the second KOM, a Cat. 3 at Ren Ai Home, and also the third KOM, a Cat. 2 before Wanli Clock Tower.

The biggest gap between the five riders and the peloton was slightly over two minutes, but their attack was neutralised on the descent into Linshanbi.

The peloton soon split, however, with 24 riders forming the lead group in the race finale. Approaching the 2km to go marker, Sohrabi and McCann launched the decisive attack as the road sloped upwards through to the finish line.

Despite the gallant effort of McCann, there was just no stopping Sohrabi who not only won the stage and leader's jersey, but also earned the mountain classification leader's red jersey and also the blue jersey for the best-ranked Asian rider.

On Tuesday, the peloton faces the 114km stage three which contains three intermediate sprints as well as two KOMs, including the Cat. 3 climb to the finish.