Paul Magnier does it again at Tour of Guangxi, launching to a second sprint victory on stage 2
Pavel Bittner takes second place after Magnier jumps from his wheel to claim a clear cut win
Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) made it a second victory in as many days, claiming stage 2 of the Gree-Tour of Guangxi on Wednesday by launching off Pavel Bittner's (Picnic PostNL) wheel to claim an emphatic sprint win in Jingxiu.
Bittner held on for second while Stanisław Aniołkowski (Cofidis) completed the podium.
The bunch charge came to fruition on the hilly 177.3km stage from Chongzuo, which included 2,033m of elevation gain, after the sprinters' teams hauled back in the remaining three riders from the earlier break – Peter Øxenberg (Ineos Grenadiers), Stan Dewulf (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Frank van den Broek (Picnic PostNL). Øxenberg sat up at just over 12km to go while Dewulf and Van den Broek persisted, with the Decathlon AG2R la Mondiale rider the last man standing, being swept up at around 5km to go.
Jhonathan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) then had a dig, though that too was chased down to set up another sprint battle.
Magnier's second top spot has consolidated his top spot overall, which he claimed on stage 1 on winning the crash marred sprint in Fanchenggang.
"It was a good day again, really fast. All of the team made it into a bunch sprint because we were not so sure of the other team's tactics for the finale," said Magnier after his second stage win, though he ruled out a full charge at holding the red jersey all the way through to Nanning and the finale.
"We had to catch the breakaway who were really strong, but I just saved energy in the bunch and Dries Van Gestel put me in the best position and I could really speed up. I'm super proud again.
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"It's possible [to target the GC], but I don't think I will try it. I'm already super happy with the two stage victories here and I will try to go again for another stage, but I think I will let the GC be for the GC riders."
How it unfolded
It was a wet but warm start to stage 2 of the Tour of Guangxi in Chongzuo, but the riders weren't deterred from attacking right from the flag drop, with an 178.9-kilometre, mostly flat, road heading northwest to Jingxi ahead of them.
Kevin Geniets (Groupama-FDJ) kicked things off with a move right out of kilometre 0, and he was joined by five others in the opening 15km of racing: Stan Dewulf (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Simon Guglielmi (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Peter Øxenberg (Ineos Grenadiers), Frank van den Broek (Picnic PostNL) and Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost).
Lidl-Trek were quickly left two riders down, after Simone Consonni was unable to start and Bauke Mollema abandoned mid-way through the stage, but the rest of the peloton soldiered on through the rain and humidity.
The pace was kept at a fairly rapid pace for most of the opening phase, led by the teams interested in another sprint – Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, Soudal-QuickStep and XDS Astana, who all had a spot on stage 1's podium.
The break led for all of the flat opening 138km, but soon had to tackle a climb up to a plateau, which led into another flat finale, with their gap down to just more than a minute with 36km still to race.
Three men from the six emerged as the strongest over the National Road KOM point, Øxenberg, Dewulf and Van den Broek, though they still only enjoyed a 20-second lead on the roads leading up into Jingxi. Øxenberg faded first and waited to be caught by the peloton.
Dewulf was the last man standing from the original six and kicked on into the final 6km, but he too had no real chance of making it. Once he was caught back, another bunch sprint looked certain, until Jhonatan Narváez set off on the attack in search of a 95th UAE Team Emirates-XRG win in 2025.
Narváez was moving well as the road gradually rose, but it wasn't enough of an incline to show his punchy characteristics off best, allowing the sprinters' teams to bring back the Ecuadorian national champion.
Groupama and Visma had momentary control, but the big, wide roads of the Jingxi finale allowed several sprint trains to burst up to the front of the peloton. Jayco had the front for a moment but ran out of steam, allowing Picnic PostNL to lead Casper van Uden into the finale.
However, race leader Magnier had been dropped off on his wheel by Van Gestel in perfect position and was set ready to strike as he did on stage 1. Once he came out of the Dutchman's wheel, no one was any match for his turn of speed and he confirmed his 16th win of 2025.
Results
Position |
Rider (Team) |
Time Gap |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick–Step) |
3:45:10 |
2 |
Pavel Bittner (Team Picnic PostNL) |
" |
3 |
Stanisław Aniołkowski (Cofidis) |
" |
4 |
Daniel Skerl (Bahrain Victorious) |
" |
5 |
Arne Marit (Intermarché–Wanty) |
" |
6 |
Max Kanter (XDS Astana Team) |
" |
7 |
Robert Donaldson (Team Jayco AlUla) |
" |
8 |
Paul Penhoët (Groupama–FDJ) |
" |
9 |
Jordi Meeus (Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe) |
" |
10 |
Oded Kogut (Israel–Premier Tech) |
" |
11 |
Niklas Behrens (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) |
" |
12 |
Marijn Van Den Berg (EF Education–EasyPost) |
" |
13 |
Steffen De Schuyteneer (Lotto) |
" |
14 |
Rasmus Søjberg Pedersen (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) |
" |
15 |
Max Walscheid (Team Jayco AlUla) |
" |
16 |
Kim Heiduk (INEOS Grenadiers) |
" |
17 |
Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Movistar Team) |
" |
18 |
Andrea Pasqualon (Bahrain Victorious) |
" |
19 |
Ryan Gibbons (Lidl–Trek) |
" |
20 |
Ivo Emanuel Alves Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates XRG) |
" |
21 |
Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa–B&B Hotels) |
" |
22 |
Liam Slock (Lotto) |
" |
23 |
Joshua Giddings (Lotto) |
" |
24 |
Lewis Bower (Groupama–FDJ) |
" |
25 |
Casper Cornelis Van Uden (Team Picnic PostNL) |
" |
26 |
Alan Hatherly (Team Jayco AlUla) |
" |
27 |
Pierre Gautherat (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) |
" |
28 |
Logan Currie (Lotto) |
" |
29 |
Piet Allegaert (Cofidis) |
" |
30 |
Clément Davy (Groupama–FDJ) |
" |
31 |
Itamar Einhorn (Israel–Premier Tech) |
" |
32 |
Victor Lafay (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) |
" |
33 |
Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar Team) |
" |
34 |
Mikkel Frølich Honoré (EF Education–EasyPost) |
" |
35 |
Jan Maas (Cofidis) |
" |
36 |
Antonio Pedrero (Movistar Team) |
" |
37 |
Aurélien Paret-Peintre (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) |
" |
38 |
Nans Peters (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) |
" |
39 |
Pello Bilbao Lopez De Armentia (Bahrain Victorious) |
" |
40 |
Jørgen Nordhagen (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) |
" |
41 |
Diego Pescador Castro (Movistar Team) |
" |
42 |
Paul Double (Team Jayco AlUla) |
" |
43 |
Antoine Huby (Soudal Quick–Step) |
" |
44 |
Kevin Colleoni (Intermarché–Wanty) |
" |
45 |
Matthew Dinham (Team Picnic PostNL) |
" |
46 |
Nicolas Debeaumarche (Cofidis) |
" |
47 |
Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates XRG) |
" |
48 |
Ben Zwiehoff (Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe) |
" |
49 |
Roman Ermakov (Bahrain Victorious) |
" |
50 |
Alexy Faure Prost (Intermarché–Wanty) |
" |
51 |
Sergio Andres Higuita Garcia (XDS Astana Team) |
" |
52 |
Cian Uijtdebroeks (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) |
" |
53 |
Frederik Wandahl (Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe) |
" |
54 |
Alexander Hajek (Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe) |
" |
55 |
Andrew August (INEOS Grenadiers) |
" |
56 |
Tijmen Graat (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) |
" |
57 |
Nadav Raisberg (Israel–Premier Tech) |
" |
58 |
Roger Adria Oliveras (Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe) |
" |
59 |
Anthon Charmig (XDS Astana Team) |
" |
60 |
Eddy Le Huitouze (Groupama–FDJ) |
" |
61 |
Ewen Costiou (Arkéa–B&B Hotels) |
" |
62 |
Lars Craps (Lotto) |
" |
63 |
Peter Øxenberg (INEOS Grenadiers) |
" |
64 |
Attila Valter (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) |
" |
65 |
Lukas Nerurkar (EF Education–EasyPost) |
" |
66 |
Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl–Trek) |
" |
67 |
Sylvain Moniquet (Cofidis) |
" |
68 |
Sam Oomen (Lidl–Trek) |
" |
69 |
Rémy Rochas (Groupama–FDJ) |
" |
70 |
Nick Schultz (Israel–Premier Tech) |
" |
71 |
Alexey Lutsenko (XDS Astana Team) |
" |
72 |
Óscar Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers) |
" |
73 |
Haoyu Su (XDS Astana Team) |
" |
74 |
Reuben Thompson (Lotto) |
" |
75 |
Enzo Paleni (Groupama–FDJ) |
" |
76 |
Louis Rouland (Arkéa–B&B Hotels) |
" |
77 |
Markel Beloki Fernandez (EF Education–EasyPost) |
" |
78 |
Dries Van Gestel (Soudal Quick–Step) |
" |
79 |
Geng Teng (China) |
" |
80 |
Jhonatan Manuel Narvaez Prado (UAE Team Emirates XRG) |
" |
81 |
Kamiel Bonneu (Intermarché–Wanty) |
" |
82 |
Kévin Geniets (Groupama–FDJ) |
" |
83 |
Thomas Gloag (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) |
" |
84 |
Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates XRG) |
" |
85 |
Patrick Eddy (Team Picnic PostNL) |
" |
86 |
Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl–Trek) |
" |
87 |
Michel Ries (Arkéa–B&B Hotels) |
" |
88 |
Frank Van Den Broek (Team Picnic PostNL) |
" |
89 |
Eduardo Sepúlveda (Lotto) |
" |
90 |
Michael Shea Leonard (INEOS Grenadiers) |
" |
91 |
Patrick Gamper (Team Jayco AlUla) |
" |
92 |
Francesco Busatto (Intermarché–Wanty) |
" |
93 |
Stan Dewulf (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) |
" |
94 |
Fausto Masnada (XDS Astana Team) |
" |
95 |
Jesús Herrada (Cofidis) |
" |
96 |
Andrea Raccagni Noviero (Soudal Quick–Step) |
" |
97 |
Simon Guglielmi (Arkéa–B&B Hotels) |
" |
98 |
Julius Johansen (UAE Team Emirates XRG) |
" |
99 |
Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar Team) |
" |
100 |
Riley Pickrell (Israel–Premier Tech) |
" |
101 |
Luca Mozzato (Arkéa–B&B Hotels) |
" |
102 |
Mathijs Paasschens (Bahrain Victorious) |
" |
103 |
Ryan William Mullen (Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe) |
" |
104 |
Michael Valgren (EF Education–EasyPost) |
" |
105 |
Gijs Van Hoecke (Intermarché–Wanty) |
" |
106 |
Igor Arrieta Lizarraga (UAE Team Emirates XRG) |
" |
107 |
Luka Mezgec (Team Jayco AlUla) |
" |
108 |
Harold Martin Lopez Granizo (XDS Astana Team) |
" |
109 |
Emanuel Buchmann (Cofidis) |
" |
110 |
Filip Maciejuk (Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe) |
" |
111 |
Tom Paquot (Intermarché–Wanty) |
" |
112 |
Léandre Lozouet (Arkéa–B&B Hotels) |
" |
113 |
Jasha Sütterlin (Team Jayco AlUla) |
" |
114 |
Max Van Der Meulen (Bahrain Victorious) |
+0:20 |
115 |
Owain Doull (EF Education–EasyPost) |
+0:32 |
116 |
Max Walker (EF Education–EasyPost) |
" |
117 |
You Li (China) |
+0:38 |
118 |
Rongqi Zhang (China) |
+0:57 |
119 |
Tim Naberman (Team Picnic PostNL) |
" |
120 |
Davide Cimolai (Movistar Team) |
+0:58 |
121 |
Artem Shmidt (INEOS Grenadiers) |
+1:09 |
122 |
Juan Pedro Lopez Perez (Lidl–Trek) |
+1:16 |
123 |
Jordi Warlop (Soudal Quick–Step) |
+1:54 |
124 |
Enzo Leijnse (Team Picnic PostNL) |
" |
125 |
Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) |
+2:08 |
126 |
Josef Černý (Soudal Quick–Step) |
+2:49 |
127 |
Zhen Li (China) |
+10:16 |
128 |
Rui Filipe Alves Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates XRG) |
" |
129 |
Yutao Shen (China) |
" |
130 |
Warre Vangheluwe (Soudal Quick–Step) |
+15:28 |
131 |
Jiaqing Yu (China) |
" |
132 |
Daniel McLay (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) |
" |
133 |
Florian Samuel Kajamini (XDS Astana Team) |
" |
134 |
Yuheng Li (China) |
" |
DNF |
Gianluca Pollefliet (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) |
Row 134 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Bauke Mollema (Lidl-Trek) |
Row 135 - Cell 2 |
DNS |
Simone Consonni (Lidl-Trek) |
Row 136 - Cell 2 |
James Moultrie is a gold-standard NCTJ journalist who joined Cyclingnews as a News Writer in 2023 after originally contributing as a freelancer for eight months, during which time he also wrote for Eurosport, Rouleur and Cycling Weekly. Prior to joining the team he reported on races such as Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d’Italia Donne for Eurosport and has interviewed some of the sport’s top riders in Chloé Dygert, Lizzie Deignan and Wout van Aert. Outside of cycling, he spends the majority of his time watching other sports – rugby, football, cricket, and American Football to name a few.
- Simone GiulianiAustralia Editor
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