Metlushenko sprints to victory
By Shane Goss published
De Negri, Shpilevskiy complete podium
Ukraine sprinter Yuriy Metlushenko (Amore & Vita-Conad) has taken out the Tour of Qinghai Lake preface criterium with a convincing charge to the line in Huzhu County. Metlushenko punched both fists into the air and screamed "Yeah!" in what could be a message to all others in the peloton that he is the man to watch in the points competition this year.
Metlushenko defeated Italy's Paolo De Negri (ISD-Neri) with Russia's Boris Shpilevskiy (Russian National Team) finishing third before an estimated crowd of 50,000. The criterium has no bearing on the tour’s GC but certainly gave the locals an opportunity to witness the speed that can be expected on the race.
Rain fell early in the twelve-lap race and although the peloton got through the 72 kilometres unscathed the riders would have been keen to get into a hot shower. Mud-splattered bodies and the grimaces on the riders’ faces told the story of day.
Breakaways were few and far between on a circuit with very long straights that made it difficult for any escapees to ride out of sight. There were some who tried but the best chance came in the second half of the race when Vitaliy Buts (Ukrainian National Team) and eventual third-place Boris Shpilevskiy (Russian National Team) got a gap of twenty seconds over the peloton.
The bunch was averaging around 7:50 per lap on the 6km circuit but when the pace picked up on the concluding laps, any chance of a break was gone. Metlushenko’s power on the pedals came to the fore and he added another win in China after claiming a stage in last year’s tour.
The Tour of Qinghai Lake proper gets underway tomorrow in Xining where riders face a 171km trek to Tongren. If conditions are anything like today the peloton is in for a tough day in the saddle. There is a category two climb of 3,038 metres at the 64km mark.
The sprinters will have two intermediate sprint sections along the way where Metlushenko is sure to figure again. A breakaway is highly likely given the stage profile and distance.
1 | Yuriy Metlushenko (Ukr) Amore & Vita - Conad | 1:32:18 |
2 | Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita) ISD - Neri | |
3 | Boris Shpilevskiy (Rus) Russia | |
4 | Jure Zrimsek (Slo) Slovenia | |
5 | Tobias Erler (Ger) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team | |
6 | Robin Chaigneau (Ned) Skil - Shimano | |
7 | Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Kazakhstan | |
8 | Davide Frattini (Ita) Team Type 1 | |
9 | Jin Long (Chn) Skil - Shimano | |
10 | Dmytriy Krivtsov (Ukr) ISD - Neri | |
11 | James Williamson (NZl) Subway - Avanti | |
12 | Hossein Alizadeh (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team | |
13 | Emanuel Kiserlovski (Cro) Loborika | |
14 | Vitaliy Buts (Ukr) Ukraine | |
15 | Ho Ting Kwok (HKg) Hong Kong | |
16 | Kiel Reijnen (USA) Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda | |
17 | Pengda Jiao (Chn) China | |
18 | Valentin Iglinskiy (Kaz) Kazakhstan | |
19 | Darko Blaževic (Cro) Loborika | |
20 | Hossein Jahanbanian Kamnabi (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team | |
21 | Sergiy Grechyn (Ukr) Amore & Vita - Conad | |
22 | Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Cyclingteam Jo Piels | 0:00:06 |
23 | Andriy Vasylyuk (Ukr) Ukraine | |
24 | Jelle Posthuma (Ned) Cyclingteam Jo Piels | |
25 | Ying Hon Yeung (HKg) Hong Kong | |
26 | William Dugan (USA) Team Type 1 | |
27 | Eugen Wacker (Kgz) Giant Asia Racing Team | |
28 | Vladimir Likhachev (Rus) Russia | |
29 | Chun Hing Chan (HKg) Hong Kong | |
30 | Dmitry Puzanov (Rus) Russia | |
31 | Bernard Van Ulden (USA) Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda | |
32 | Ki Ho Choi (HKg) Hong Kong | |
33 | Roman Zhiyentayev (Kaz) Kazakhstan | 0:00:10 |
34 | Alexander Filippov (Rus) Russia | |
35 | Thierry Hupond (Fra) Skil - Shimano | |
36 | Anthony Colby (USA) Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda | |
37 | Alexandre Geniez (Fra) Skil - Shimano | |
38 | Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Type 1 | 0:00:12 |
39 | Rahim Emami (IRI) Giant Asia Racing Team | |
40 | Volodymyr Bileka (Ukr) Amore & Vita - Conad | 0:00:17 |
41 | Esad Hasanovic (Srb) Partizan Srbija | |
42 | Haijun Ma (Chn) Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team | |
43 | Oleksandr Prevar (Ukr) Ukraine | |
44 | Ryan Wills (NZl) Subway - Avanti | |
45 | King Lok Cheung (HKg) Hong Kong | 0:00:21 |
46 | Thomas Hasibeder (Aut) Arbö Ktm - Gebrüder Weiss | 0:00:23 |
47 | Bo Liu (Chn) China | |
48 | Christopher Juul-Jensen (Den) Glud & Marstrand - LRO Radgivning | |
49 | Kam Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong | |
50 | Hossein Askari (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team | 0:00:25 |
51 | Andrey Mizurov (Kaz) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team | |
52 | Sergey Kuzmin (Kaz) Kazakhstan | |
53 | Yoriy Leontenko (Ukr) Ukraine | |
54 | Rasoul Barati (IRI) Giant Asia Racing Team | |
55 | Kasper Linde Jorgensen (Den) Glud & Marstrand - LRO Radgivning | |
56 | Pim De Beer (Ned) Cyclingteam Jo Piels | |
57 | Hrvoje Miholjevic (Cro) Loborika | |
58 | Jure Golcer (Slo) Slovenia | |
59 | Anatoliy Sosnitskyy (Ukr) Ukraine | |
60 | Ghader Mizbani Iranagh (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team | |
61 | Cheng Ji (Chn) Skil - Shimano | |
62 | Evgeny Reshetko (Rus) Russia | |
63 | Peng Liu (Chn) China | |
64 | Volodymyr Gomenuk (Ukr) Ukraine | |
65 | Nazar Jumabekov (Kaz) Kazakhstan | |
66 | Stefan Poll (Aut) Arbö Ktm - Gebrüder Weiss | |
67 | Gregor Gazvoda (Slo) Arbö Ktm - Gebrüder Weiss | |
68 | Denys Kostyuk (Ukr) ISD - Neri | |
69 | Han Feng (Chn) Skil - Shimano | |
70 | Prajak Mahawong (Tha) Giant Asia Racing Team | |
71 | Jaroslaw Dabrowski (Pol) Amore & Vita - Conad | |
72 | Oleksandr Kvachuk (Ukr) ISD - Neri | |
73 | Volodymyr Starchyk (Ukr) Amore & Vita - Conad | |
74 | Jakub Kratochvila (Cze) Arbö Ktm - Gebrüder Weiss | |
75 | Jacob Nielsen (Den) Glud & Marstrand - LRO Radgivning | |
76 | Khalid Boulida (Ned) Marco Polo Cycling Team | 0:00:36 |
77 | William Dickeson (Aus) Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda | |
78 | Shijie Yu (Chn) China | |
79 | Maarten De Jonge (Ned) Cyclingteam Jo Piels | 0:00:37 |
80 | Xiaoyong Dong (Chn) Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team | |
81 | Ian Smallman (NZl) Subway - Avanti | |
82 | Javier Megias Leal (Spa) Team Type 1 | |
83 | Samuel Horgan (NZl) Subway - Avanti | |
84 | Massimo Demarin (Cro) Loborika | |
85 | Tomislav Danculovic (Cro) Loborika | |
86 | Radoslav Rogina (Cro) Loborika | |
87 | Vitaliy Kondrut (Ukr) ISD - Neri | |
88 | Yue Tu (Chn) China | |
89 | Wu Chen (Chn) Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team | |
90 | Kristijan Durasek (Cro) Loborika | |
91 | Biao Liu (Chn) Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team | |
92 | Mitja Mahoric (Slo) Slovenia | 0:00:43 |
93 | Matej Stare (Slo) Slovenia | |
94 | Vladimir Kerkez (Slo) Slovenia | |
95 | Lasse Bochman (Den) Glud & Marstrand - LRO Radgivning | 0:00:45 |
96 | Jonathan Lovelock (Aus) Marco Polo Cycling Team | |
97 | Ivan Stevic (Srb) Partizan Srbija | |
98 | Yevgeniy Sladkov (Kaz) Kazakhstan | |
99 | Stefan Van Winden (Ned) Cyclingteam Jo Piels | |
100 | Niki Ostergaard (Den) Glud & Marstrand - LRO Radgivning | |
101 | Bernardo Colex Tepoz (Mex) Amore & Vita - Conad | |
102 | Gang Xu (Chn) China | |
103 | Mads Christensen (Den) Glud & Marstrand - LRO Radgivning | |
104 | Frederik Wilmann (Nor) Skil - Shimano | |
105 | Mykhaylo Kononenko (Ukr) Ukraine | 0:00:49 |
106 | Vladislav Borisov (Rus) Amore & Vita - Conad | |
107 | David McCann (Irl) Giant Asia Racing Team | 0:00:55 |
108 | Alex Coutts (GBr) Giant Asia Racing Team | |
109 | Marc Goos (Ned) Cyclingteam Jo Piels | 0:00:56 |
110 | Valeriy Kobzarenko (Ukr) Team Type 1 | 0:01:02 |
111 | Salvatore Mancuso (Ita) ISD - Neri | |
112 | Kun Jiang (Chn) China | 0:01:08 |
113 | King Wai Cheung (HKg) Hong Kong | 0:01:10 |
114 | Kristjan Fajt (Slo) Slovenia | |
115 | Simon Clarke (Aus) ISD - Neri | 0:01:13 |
116 | Nicholas Lovegrove (NZl) Subway - Avanti | 0:02:48 |
117 | Joseph Cooper (NZl) Subway - Avanti | 0:02:50 |
118 | Svetislav Blagojevic (Srb) Partizan Srbija | 0:03:12 |
119 | Nikola Kozomara (Srb) Partizan Srbija | |
120 | Ting Dang (Chn) Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team | |
121 | Mathias Gade Jacobsen (Den) Glud & Marstrand - LRO Radgivning | 0:03:21 |
122 | Shengjun Wu (Chn) Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team | 0:03:47 |
123 | Peilun Wu (Chn) Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team | 0:03:52 |
124 | Zsolt Der (Srb) Partizan Srbija | 0:05:38 |
125 | Thomas Rabou (Ned) Team Type 1 | |
126 | Andrej Omulec (Slo) Slovenia | 0:07:56 |
DNS | Sierk Jan De Haan (Ned) Cyclingteam Jo Piels | |
DNS | Alexander Arekeev (Rus) Russia | |
DNF | Mehdi Sohrabi (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team | |
DNF | Bradley Hall (Aus) Marco Polo Cycling Team | |
DNF | Loh Sea Keong (Mas) Marco Polo Cycling Team | |
DNF | Ahmad Haidar Anuawar (Mas) Marco Polo Cycling Team | |
DNF | Lars Pria (Rom) Arbö Ktm - Gebrüder Weiss | |
DNF | Michael Singer (Aut) Arbö Ktm - Gebrüder Weiss | |
DNF | Alexandr Shushemoin (Kaz) Kazakhstan | |
DNF | Eric Drower (NZl) Subway - Avanti | |
DNF | Danil Komkov (Rus) Russia | |
DNF | Jonathan Chodroff (USA) Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda | |
DNF | Sean Mazich (USA) Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda | |
DNF | Scott Stewart (USA) Team Type 1 |
1 | Dmytriy Krivtsov (Ukr) ISD - Neri |
2 | Mykhaylo Kononenko (Ukr) Ukraine |
3 | Kun Jiang (Chn) China |
1 | King Lok Cheung (HKg) Hong Kong |
2 | Ho Ting Kwok (HKg) Hong Kong |
3 | Kun Jiang (Chn) China |
1 | King Lok Cheung (HKg) Hong Kong |
2 | Kun Jiang (Chn) China |
3 | Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Kazakhstan |

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