Ventoso dominates Hainan

Francisco Ventoso (Carmiooro A-Style) took out the sprint for stage 4 and gained enough bonus bonuses to be the yellow jersey wearer. Boris Shpilevsky (Russia) is in second place with Vitaliy Buts (Ukraine) holding on only one second back.

The 156.8Km stage 4 from Wenchang to Haikou was held under comfortable conditions on a fairly flat course promising a group sprint once again.
The first half of the stage was on undulating hills, and like previous stages many break attempts were thwarted. With time bonuses building in importance the pressure was on as the race approached each sprint. Boris Shpilevsky (Russia) won the first of three intermediate sprints followed by Jaan Kirsipu (Le Tua) and Hui Guo (China) respectively for the remaining two sprints.

The second half of the stage was on dual lane motorway and head winds made it tough for any break to succeed. The last 15Km were raced through the modern and ever growing city of Haikou. Thousands lined the streets to watch the action speed by, and in the end it was Francisco Ventoso (Carmiooro A-Style) with the strongest legs.

Stage 5 heads west along the north side of Hainan Island. The 158Km stage looks undulating again with a steep pitch 15Km from the finish. Possibly a chance to gain a few seconds for the close runners and grab the yellow jersey.