Tour of Hainan: Mareczko claims stage 2 victory

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Beaten by Jon Aberasturi in the first sprint finish at the Tour of Hainan, Jakub Mareczko (Wilier Triestina) got everything right on day two as he out-sprinted the rest of the field at the end of the longest stage in the 12th edition of China's tropical island's event. Martin Laas (Delko Marseille Provence KTM) took second with Switzerland's Dylan Page rounding out the podium.

Mareczko's victory was enough to put him into the race lead, ahead of Aberasturi who finished 21st on the day.

"Today we've felt the heat and the length of the stage," Mareczko reacted. "We wanted to control the race, so we put Luca Raggio at the front of the peloton. In the finale, all my teammates worked hard to catch the breakaway. It hasn't been easy, and we arrived a bit cooked. Luckily [Eugert] Zhupa took me to the front at the right moment. I launched my sprint from far out because I didn't want to risk to getting stuck in the traffic. I'm happy with the win and the yellow jersey but let's hope it's only the first victory at the Tour of Hainan."

Mareczko came third in the day's first intermediate sprint, behind Ukraine's Mikhaylo Kononenko (Kolss) and Estonia's Martin Laas who positioned himself as Delko Marseille's sprinter for the day as the French team has another option with Latvia's Emil Liepins. After 42km of racing, a breakaway finally took shape with King of the Mountains Vitaly Buts (Kolss), Benjamin Hill (Attaque Team Gusto), Ivar Slik (Monkey Town), Ma Guangtong (Hengxiang) and Lukas Meiler (Vorarlberg). A lone chaser for a while, Alexis Cartier (H&R Block) was unable to bridge the gap. The maximum lead of the quintet was 6:20 at kilometre 108.

"Some of the riders in the front group stopped their effort after the intermediate sprint," Meiler explained. "I'm happy because all I could get from this breakaway is the most combative rider prize and I got it." He forged on with Slik, but the duo was reeled in with 84km to go.

Some 75km before the end, another group, comprising Rick Van Breda (Monkey Town), Jordan Cheyne (Jelly Belly) and Fabian Lienhard (Vorarlberg), rode away. They built a maximum gap of 3:30 with 39km to go. Van Breda was first to be swallowed by the peloton led by riders from Wilier Triestina, Kolss and IsoWhey Sports-Swisswellness. Cheyne insisted on his own in the last 10 kilometres but was caught under the flamme rouge.

"I came to the Tour of Hainan with the hope of getting good results because I'm a sprinter and this race means five or six opportunities to try and win a stage," Laas said after the stage. "Second is a good result. But I think I'm able to beat Mareczko in a sprint. I'll have other chances to challenge him."

Third-placed Page, the Caja Rural rider racing for the Swiss national team, echoed Laas' thoughts. "Third is a good result, but I have to finish this season the best I can. I feel good. I already got two top 10s last week in a WorldTour race [the Tour of Guangxi -ed]. I came here with ambitions and a good team at a good level but accessible for me. After 230km, the legs don't respond as well as we want but it wasn't too bad. With more than 80 racing days in my legs this year, I probably have an advantage over most of the riders here."

Taking his ninth victory of the year, Mareczko equalled his compatriot Elia Viviani, who is the most successful Italian pro of the 2017 season so far. However, with seven stages remaining, the five-time stage winner in the Tour of Taihu Lake might as well challenge Marcel Kittel and Fernando Gaviria who top the world's tally with 14 wins.  

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