Australia's Cameron Bayly wins uphill finish and takes overall lead

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Australia's Cameron Bayly of Taiwanese outfit Attaque Gusto took the overall lead at the Tour of Taihu Lake after taking the first international victory of his career at the age of 26.

Atop the unprecedented finish of Tianhuangping, at 860m above sea level, Bayly caught the Professional Continental teams by surprise as they marked each other and won alone, four seconds clear of the peloton. Delko Marseille-Provence-KTM's Leonardo Duque from France and Italy's Giuseppe Fonzi of Wilier-Southeast sprinted for second and third places.

"There were a lot of attacks. I just kept following, trying not to go too early. I saw an opportunity with one kilometre to go and I just hit it as hard as I could and just hold on till the line. I didn't look back once," Bayly explained.

"Up the hill I was on a big ring the whole time. It was just fast with a lot of attacks. It was like following moves on a flat road race and sit out of the wind as much as possible.

"It's a very big win for me," the Australian added.

"I haven't had the best year to show myself. I'm really happy to get this result. I got a bit more confidence from my third place in the prologue. But I've been a bit sick but I'm still riding well. I've just got a bit of a blocked nose and things like that. It just worked out today."

Bayly's acceleration with one kilometre to go surprised the European-based riders who expected a sprint finish between the survivors of the front group.

"Initially we had trainee Lucas De Rossi in the move up the hill but he wasn't riding," explained Duque who was born a Colombian but now races on a French license and is actually doing the last race of his career at the Tour of Taihu Lake.

"Thomas Vaubourzeix rode well for me behind so I could play the victory. When the Australian attacked, the Wilier riders, Colombia's Mauricio Ortega and myself just watched each other. He profited from it. Then I sprinted for second. I'm a bit disappointed but that's how it is.

"It's been very animated with attacks because there wasn't any team to set the tempo and keep the race together," echoed Fonzi of Wilier-Southeast

"My team-mate Yonder Godoy tried a few times but there was always someone to catch him. I was at the limit. I didn't expect to go so well. Maybe I was a bit afraid because I’m not use to finishing at the front anymore. Unfortunately we let the guy from Attaque Gusto go and when I made my move with 300 metres to go, it was too late. In the last 20 metres, Duque passed me as well.

"However, it's a result that gives me a good morale and pleases me because I worked so much in the last two months to arrive here in good shape to help Jakub Mareczko win stages. But we're also up there on GC and we'll see in the coming days if there is a possibility to move up."

Bayly only has fifteen seconds lead over Fonzi in the overall classification, while Godoy sits in third place at eighteen seconds with four stages to go. Another bunch sprint finish expected in Wujiang on stage four on Wednesday. 

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