Tour of Fuzhou: Reigning champion Davidenok wins opening stage

Defending champion Ilya Davidenok returned to the Tour of Fuzhou unsure of his condition due to a lack of racing for two months but it didn’t take him more than the inaugural stage to realise that he's the best climber again. The 27-year-old made it a 1-2 for the Shenzhen XDS team in Guling, finishing alongside his compatriot and teammate Artur Fedosseyev.

After they caught the lone breakaway rider Samuel Volkers (Memil), the duo from Kazakhstan rode away up the hill with 7.5km to go with the aim of getting the polka dot jersey for Fedosseyev. They kept going while a chasing quartet formed of Mathieu Jeannes (Team Illuminate), Lyu Xianjing (Hengxiang), Carlos Quintero (Ningxia Livall) and Michael Vink (St George) didn't make it across.

"After we passed the first KOM at the front, I asked my friend Artur what he wanted to do. I told him that we had a chance to stay away to the end," Davidenok explained. 

"A 20-second lead was enough for us to take three leaders' jerseys. It’s a surprise for me and my friend. I didn’t know that I could climb so fast today. It’s wonderful. It’s been a fantastic stage. I can see many riders tired at the end of the year but on the other hand I feel fresh because I’ve raced very little this season."

In his second year with Chinese continental team Shenzhen XDS, Davidenok only got a last-minute call for Le Tour de Langkawi in April and took part in the Tour of Xingtai and the Tour of China in September, which was his last appearance at a bike race. 

"Luckily, around Almaty, where I live, there are a lot of mountains for training," he added.

With a lead of 51 seconds over Lyu Xianjing, the rising star who won the Tour of China II and the last stage of the Tour of Quanzhou Bay last week, Davidenok is expected to control the race until the queen stage on the penultimate day when the eighth edition of the Tour of Fuzhou will return to its iconic climb of Yun Ding after a one-year absence due to road construction.