Goesinnen solos to victory

Image 1 of 7

Floris Goesinnen (Drapac) soloed to victory in the longest stage of the Tour de Taiwan, 182.7km from Hsinchu City to Sun Moon Lake. The Australian finished 42 seconds clear of the peloton, led in by Kam Po Wong (Hong Kong).

"I promised my teammate (Rhys Pollock) who fell yesterday in the last five kilometres that I will try to win today for him, to take revenge and I did," said Goesinnen. "I knew that today is the longest stage with some high mountains and that some of the riders would be tired at the end. I saw the sprinters having difficulty, so I just went for it."

Race leader Markus Eibegger (Tabriz Petrochemical Team) finished fourth on the stage and remains atop the general classification. With five stages remaining, the Austrian is cautious about his chance to claim overall victory. The Austrian leads teammate Mehdi Sohrabi by nine seconds and defending champion David McCann (Giant Kenda Cycling Team) by 19 seconds.

"I don't think that the race is all over," said Eibegger. "There's still that guy in the blue jersey (Mehdi Sohrabi) which I have to look out for.

"But seriously, there are still five more stages to go and anything can happen. We still have to work hard to get to the finish line."

Following the previous day's harsh weather of cold and rain, the ride further south today gave way to warmer conditions and the peloton seemed to be taking it a little easier with fewer attacks when compared to the last two days.

The first sprint at Chulian Primary School was picked up by Chan Jae Jang of the Korea National Team to increase his total haul to 16 points - just a point adrift of current green jersey leader Mart Ojavee of Champion System.

The remaining two sprints at Douhuan Primary School and Shitan Junior High School was picked up by Roger Beuchat (Champion System) and Mehdi Sohrabi respectively.

Sohrabi consolidated further his hold of the mountain classification's red jersey when he was first across the day's first climb heading into Zhuolan and then second at the second climb near Guoxing Bridge.

With the 12 points on the day Sohrabi, who is also in the blue jersey for the best-ranked Asian rider, leads teammate Eibegger by 10 points.

"I'm just very tired and today I just did enough to maintain my position and not risk too much," said Sohrabi.

Going into the last 30km, Floris Goesinnen (Drapac) and Feng Chun Kai (Action Cycling Team) attacked the peloton in pursuit of stage honours. The Dutchman proved too strong for the Action Cycling Team rider and Goesinnen rode alone to the finish with a comfortable 42-second margin.