Dan McLay wins stage 2 of Tour of Guangxi

Dan McLay (EF Education First) won stage 2 of the 2019 Tour of Guangxi in China on Friday, getting the better of  Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) in a bunch sprint finish to the 152.3km stage from Beihai to Qinzhou.

The British sprinter, who has not won since the Herald Sun Tour in February, triumphed with a long effort on the wide highway sprint. As Team Ineos opened up the dash to the line, McLay went up the barriers on the right-hand side of the road and powered to the front. 

Over on the other side, Ackermann found himself up against the barriers after Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Merida) veered to the left - a movement which infuriated Ackermann and which was later punished with relegation. 

McLay moved towards the middle of the road in sight of the line and was almost side by side with Ackermann as  they crossed it. It was close but clear, and McLay punched the air while Ackermann turned to remonstrate with Bahaus. 

Trentin had chosen to take the wheel of Ackermann, and rolled in behind the German and came in alongside the Germanfor third. 

There were no categorised climbs on the flat 152.3km stage, on which a three-man breakaway was formed by  Laurens de Vreese (Astana), Jérôme Cousin (Total Direct Energie) and Sep Vanmarcke (EF Education First). They opened up a lead of a few minutes but were steadily reeled in by the Bora and UAE-led peloton. Vanmarcke went solo in the final 10km but a bunch sprint was inevitable, and his teammate ended up winning it. 

Overnight race leader Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) could only finish eighth, handing the overall lead to Ackermann, who had finished second for the second day in a row – albeit to two different riders.