Kemps claims another in Tianjin

Image 1 of 12

Aaron Kemps sealed his win in the points classification at the Tour of China with a second stage victory in Tianjin on a day when Dirk Muller and his Nutrition Sparkasse squad was also celebrating their triumph in the overall standings

"This is my third stage win this year," said Kemps after the win. "David Tanner's lead out to 150m before the finish line meant I could launch my sprint; our team is very happy with a stage win."

With a gap of 34 seconds between Muller and second-placed David Tanner (Fly V Australia), the pressure was on the German outfit to control the race, which played perfectly to the aspirations of Kemps. That didn't mean the squad wasn't holding hopes for Tanner, however.

"Tanner will fight for yellow jersey until the last second, there is always the chance of something unpredictable like a crash or a puncture - we will never give up," said Fly V Australia manager Hank Vogels.

Yellow jersey Muller also knew the potential for a surprise and his team was taking no chances. "Today the course had to pass through tunnels and bridges which are quite dangerous; the team worked really well and our aim was just to protect the yellow jersey.

"I have been very lucky during the Tour of China, there were no punctures nor crashes; I have five yellow jerseys from other races, but the yellow from the Tour of China is definitely my favourite," he continued. "The team worked really well during the Tour, especially Sergej Fuchs, who did a brilliant job for me."

The Tianjin Circuit Race took riders on an 85km journey around the Haihe port and from the first lap there was a four-man breakaway, which gained a maximum advantage of almost 30 seconds, although the Muller's Nutrition Sparkasse squad maintained its control of the peloton and kept a watch over close rival Tanner.

With two kilometres remaining the peloton caught the breakaway group and set up a massive sprint finish. Kemps won the stage after riding the stage in an average speed nudging 50km/h. Rico Rogers (Giant Asia Racing) took second in a photo finish while 38-year-old Dutch veteran Leon Van Bon finished third, his first podium during the Tour of China.

The best ranked Asian rider was Hossein Askari (Tabriz Petrochemical), who took fifth in the overall standings, Kun Jiang (China National) retained his Greater China jersey by finishing eighth in the general classification. King Wai Cheung (Hong Kong) kept the polka-dot jersey.

Results