Groenewegen breaks Gaviria's dominance in Guangxi

It came down to the final throw to the line as little separated the first three in the sprint finish to Stage 5 of the Tour of Guangxi. Dylan Groenewegen (Lotto NL-Jumbo) emerged as the victor by the narrowest of margins, just breaking the dominance of Fernando Gaviria (Quickstep Floors), who was looking for his fourth win of the race.

Groenewegen takes the win ahead of Gaviria and Cort Nielsen Source: Getty Images

With Movistar applying the pressure in the mountains before the final flat dash into Guilin, Groenewegen was put into difficulty, but thanks to full team effort, he was able to rejoin the front of the race and repay the team's efforts with the sprint win.

"On the final climb, Movistar was attacking with all its team," said Groenewegen. "The speed was a little too hard, but I had the whole team waiting for me and they brought me back to the first 30 riders and then I could do the sprint and I did it.

"In the last kilometre, we had a headwind so I was thinking about going a little later than normal. With 150 metres to go, I went and it was enough. I can go into the winter with a good victory in China."

Lotto NL-Jumbo sports director Grischa Niermann saw "a super performance" of his team. The plan was not to get in the front of the peloton too soon and save everyone’s energy for the final sprint as long as possible. When Movistar tried to break the peloton in the hills, the team needed to keep Groenewegen in a prominent position.

"And they did it well”, said Niermann. "The men dropped off Dylan and finished it very well. We came here for a stage win and succeeded."

Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) retained his red leader's jersey, adding two seconds to his advantage over Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), and will start the final stage as the favourite to claim the overall title. BMC Racing's Nicolas Roche is third overall at 11 seconds to Wellens.