Gazvoda grabs glory in Xunhua

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Gregor Gazvoda (Arbo KTM-Gebruder Weiss) won stage two of the Tour of Qinghai Lake in Xunhua. Gazvoda edged out Hossein Askari (Tabriz Petrochemical) and Irishman David McCann (Giant Asia Racing Team) in another gruelling day on the roads of China. Tour leader Rogina Radoslav (Loborika) remains in yellow after finishing fifth on the stage. He holds a 37 second lead over Gazvoda.

Stage 2 was the shortest day on the road at just 94.8 kilometres but that didn’t count for much when the race hit the slopes of Galengyakou. Tibetan monks on mobile phones watched on as Ghader Mizbani (Tabriz Petrochemical) took the race on, attacking a lead group of eleven riders on the ascent up the category one climb.

Chasers in the group behind included the yellow jersey of Radoslav, the Polka Dot jersey of Rahim Emami (Giant Asia racing Team), and three of Mizbani’s teammates, Andrey Mizorov, Hossein Askari and Hossein Alieadeh. When Mizbani punctured on the descent, all was not lost as there was plenty of back-up behind.

Radoslav however was on his own in the group and decided to descend the mountain with caution rather than pulling out all the stops to catch the leaders.

“Today was very hard because the Iranian team (Tabriz Petrochemical) attack and climb” Radoslav said. The descent at Galengyakou was a narrow road and made slippery after a light shower. “It was a little bit wet and I went slow to wait for my teammates” he said.

Gazvoda wasn’t waiting for his. After finishing fourth on the opening day - despite feeling sick - he descended the mountain into Xunhua confident of victory. “Today I felt much better” he said. “There was a small group at the top of the climb and i felt pretty confident in the downhill, so I attacked”.

Gazvoda was joined by Mizorov, Askari and Alieadeh on the descent into the finish. The contrasting landscape of tree lined roads and barren mountain ranges wouldn’t have appealed to Mizbani as he was trying to hold onto his lead.

He was reeled in by the quartet in the final twenty kilometres with a group containing the yellow jersey still chasing. At the finish however, Gazvoda had the stronger legs, and upset what could have been a Tabriz Petrochemical trifecta.

The strength of the Iranian team was on display however, and today could well be a sign of things to come when the race hits the higher peaks.

But for now it’s Gazvoda’s day in the sun. For European riders the race here can be difficult to adjust to the culture and in-particular the food. “The organisers they really do a hard job to make good food for us” Gazvoda said. Tonight the food will taste even better as a stage winner in China. “I am very happy now” he added.

Tomorrow is the longest stage of the race, a 173.3 kilometre trek from Xunhua to Xining including a hors categorie climb of 3300 metres at around the 103 kilometre mark.

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