Iglinskiy strikes again

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Kazakhstan's Valentin Iglinskiy moved a step closer to emulating the two previous winners of the Tour of Qinghai Lake's points classification with victory in the tough uphill sprint into the small village of Bird Island. On the shores of Qinghai Lake, Iglinskiy beat Slovenia's Jure Kocjan and team-mate Dmitriy Fofonov after a strong lead out in the final 200 metres.

The younger brother of Astana professional Maxim now moves into third overall in the points classification he is aiming to win, but he shouldn't be discounted for the overall if he possesses the same climbing ability as his older sibling, who has previously won the mountains classification at the Tour de Suisse.

Axelsson falters on flat stages, loses four minutes

The relatively flat stage from the village of Qinghai Lake to Bird Island looked to be one made for the sprinters, and little change in the general classification was expected. Open plains and rain told a different story however, as Niklas Axelsson, who was sitting in second overall just 15 seconds behind the overall lead, was caught out as the field split into several groups.

Sensing an opportunity to move up the classification Mitja Mahoric sent his Slovenian team-mates to drive the lead group. Their efforts paid off - by the time Axelsson crossed the line, he had lost over four minutes, sending him to 21st overall, while Mahoric, who also claimed an intermediate time bonus moved up to second overall, an even minute behind Andrey Mizurov (Tabriz Petrochemicals).

"All day it was very hard," explained Kocjan, who finished in second on the stage. "Our team worked very hard all day because Axelsson, who was second on the general classification, was in the second group, so we all had to work hard. I was lucky that I didn't have to work too hard so that I could save my legs for the sprint."

Kocjan was lucky to have even made it to the finish in the lead group after suffering three punctures in the final 50km, the last of which just before the only categorised climb of the day at 25km to go.

"It was very hard to make it back to the front each time. Then in the sprint the Kazakh team made a train, I was behind Iglinskiy but he was too strong. In the final few metres I was catching him, but the finish line came too early.

"My team-mate Mitja Mahoric is now up to second in general classification, so all in all we had a good day today," he added.

For overall leader Andrey Mizurov today's stage was an unexpected bonus as his time gap to second place grew from just 15 seconds to a minute, exemplifying the importance of riding close to the front of the peloton.

"I am not sure why Axelsson was in the second group today, maybe he had a mechanical, here it is important to stay at the front of the race, in the first 20 riders," he explained.

Although Mizurov has moved into a more comfortable position, a fact that was clearly visible at the jersey ceremony as he appeared more relaxed than previous days. He was quick to point out that all his rivals will remain dangerous until the tour is over on Sunday.

"Comfortable? Maybe, maybe. The Slovenians are also very strong and dangerous," he warned.

Fofonov a dark horse?

Third place in today's stage was the first sign that Kazakhstan's Dmitriy Fofonov is in good form for this event and may well be one of the major threats as they head into the mountains again in two days' time.

"There are still some difficult stages to come. The day after tomorrow is hard with a tough climb," he explained.

Fofonov finished last year's Tour de France in 19th position before being fired by his Credit Agricole team due to a failed doping control for heptaminol on stage 18 of the same race. Riding here as part of the Kazakhstan national team he hopeful that his results will land him a contract for next season.

"Hopefully I will have a team for next year. At the moment it is difficult, but that is life. Cycling is not finished for me."

Another flat stage remains before the tour again heads into the mountains in two days time, the typical terrain for the general classification. but as we saw today, anything can happen even on a flat stage. Riders must remain alert and close to their rivals as even the slightest relapse in concentration could result in a gap too big to close down.

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