Buts opens Hainan with stage win and overall lead

Image 1 of 22

Stage one of the Tour of Hainan was predicted to be a quick one thanks to its flat profile. And fast it was with the riders heading north along the coast of Hainan Island. The stage started in the tourist hub of Sanya with the finish line in Baoting 128.6Km away.

After a quick teams presentation the race was on its way. The humidity was the first challenge of the day, but the smooth dual lane motorway made life a little easier for the peloton.

Several break attempts were made early on, but the peloton remained intact up the Category 3 KOM at 21.7Km, with Valentin Iglinskiy (Kazakhstan) gaining top points for the day.

After nearly 50Km a five-man break including eventual winner Vitaliy Buts (Ukraine) managed to escape. They held a break of 2 minutes 41 seconds with 40Km to go, but the with the pace and heat high Xing Yan Dong (Trek-Marco Polo) fell away from the break totally spent. With four riders now in the break and the sprinters teams back in the peloton working well the pressure was on.

Gordon McCauley (Subway-Avanti) was soon to be alone with the two Ukrainian riders as Mohd Salleh (LeTua) was dropped on a small climb with 5Km to go. 44 seconds was the gap and the trio managed to hold off the chasing bunch to the finish line.

Vitaliy Buts (Ukraine) took line honours with teammate Mykhailo Khalilov placing second and McCauley in third.

Tomorrow's stage heads into the hills and at 182Km it is sure to be an early decisive stage for overall GC honours.