Shpilevskiy in a hurry for stage win

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Russian National Team rider Boris Shpilevskiy has put the sprinters back in the spotlight winning stage six of the tour into Mole in the Qilian County. Shpilevskiy outlasted Matej Stare (Slovenian National Team) and Simon Clarke (ISD-Neri) from Australia; the win puts Shpilevskiy into the green jersey leader of the point's competition with two stages remaining.

Iranian Hossein Askari (Tabriz Petrochemical) remains in the tour lead holding a 44 second advantage over Croatian Radoslav Rogina (Loborika) with American Kiel Reijnen (Jelly Belly) a further 41.seconds back in third place.

Shpilevskiy has already appeared on the podium four times including the tour preface, but never as the winner. With the race heading over the summit of the hors categorie climb fifteen kilometres from the finish, it looked like his chances may have passed him by again.

He was at the back of a lead group that had assembled high on the climb and was struggling to stay in touch. "I was last position on the climb" he said gasping for air in Mole. "It was very difficult, i was very fatigued". "My team work very well on the last fifteen kilometres on the downhill and i am very happy to win at last", he added.

Earlier in the day the field, now reduced to 119 riders, left Xihaizhen beneath clear blue skies with the temperature in the low twenties. The pace was on early with several breakaway attempts that failed. Ukrainian rider Oleksandr Kvachuk (ISD-Neri) took the points at the first King of the Mountain mark at twenty-four kilometres. Shpilevskiy showed a sign of things to come when he won the first intermediate sprint of the day at forty-six kilometres.

It was after this point that two riders broke free. Ying Hon Yeung (Hong Kong) and Shengjun Wu (Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team) snuck out to a lead of over two minutes by the time they sped through the coal mining township of Reshui (Chinese for Hot Water Town).

They were eventually joined by a chasing pair nearing thirty-five kilometres from the finish. Jakub Kratochvila (Arbo-KTM-Gebruder Weiss) and Peng Liu (China National Team) had been chasing the leading pair across the plateau, watched by road workers who had put their tools down to cheer on the tour.

Kratochvila is one of only two riders left on his Austrian registered team and could have been excused for just sitting back in the peloton. His teammate and already a stage winner here, Gregor Gazvoda, was sitting eleventh overall 2:22 behind Askari. "I just wanted to make up some time on the GC and do everything for my leader", he said afterwards.

The quartet's lead of fifty seconds nearing the 25 kilometres mark quickly evaporated and the big guns of the race took over on the climb. A group of nine riders formed on the lower slopes before that was reduced to seven nearing the top. The peloton meanwhile began to disintegrate behind.

The group of seven, including tour leader Hossein Askari, had a break of fifteen seconds approaching the summit. Former tour leader Rogina showed he is not done with yet when he led the race over the top. They were joined by a chasing pack and descended towards the finish, speeding past local Mongolians dressed in their colourful costumes and waving flags.

On the fast and smooth run into Mole, teams began to organise their sprinters. Waiting at the finish was a mixture of Chinese culture with Muslims, Tibetans and Mongolians lining the main street awaiting the tour's arrival.

They watched on as a Russian outlasted a Slovenian and an Australian to win the stage. Clarke was delighted with his place on the podium after being in a hospital earlier on the tour having blood tests. "After the way i have been feeling this week i didn't even think a top ten in a stage would be within my reach" he said. "Today I crashed and changed bikes twice; I just thought this run's not going to end".

"I just tried to hold on in that last climb today and have a crack" he added. "It was a really hard finish with an uphill drag and a headwind, i didn't hit out until 150 to go, i'm stoked to make the podium under the circumstances", Clarke said.

Tour leader Askari is prepared for a hard day in the saddle on the penultimate stage tomorrow which features another hors categorie climb at 3,869 metres above sea level. "I think today is better than tomorrow", he said. "Tomorrow is a hard day". "We know the roads and the hors categorie are not so strong but it is the altitude". "Maybe the gods help my team", he said with a smile.

Tomorrow the eighth stage leaves Mole bound for Qingshizui, a 150 kilometre journey featuring the aforementioned climb. If the gods are smiling on Askari and his team from Tabriz Petrochemical, he will take the yellow jersey to Xining for the final stage criterium on Sunday.

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