Tour of Hainan opener ends in bunch sprint

The first stage of the Tour of Hainan culminated in an expected bunch sprint. At only 95 kilometers, the race was always going to be a flat and fast one.

The peloton wasn’t keen on letting anyone get a sizable gap and after constant attacks, two riders were allowed a gap of 50 seconds before it was brought back.

Hamish Beadle was our protected man for the day but after a late mechanical for the New Zealander, Declan Irvine contested the sprint for Team Novo Nordisk and was its best-placed rider in 22^nd.

“Hamish was supposed to be sprinting and I was leading him out and at 3km to go he got a puncture. So then I kept going on my own but after 2 months of no racing I didn’t have the feel in the front and I sprinted the whole thing in the saddle. 22nd was the best I could do. Hopefully we improve from here,” Irvine said.