Short Hilly Stage 4 at Tour of China

11 September 2018

Race: 2018 Tour of China I, Stage 4

Location: Chongqing Liangping / Chongqing Liangping, China

Distance: 69.9 kilometers

CHONGQING LIANGPING, CHINA – Tuesday’s stage 4 at the Tour of China gave riders a short, sharp shock in the rolling countryside of the Chongqing municipality. Team Novo Nordisk riders took to the 70-km stage early in the morning and then packed up for a 500km transfer to continue the race on Wednesday.

With a stage duration of less than two hours, the peloton was active and aggressive all day in China. The world’s first all-diabetes professional cycling team put riders at the front of the group to patrol for breakaways, and held on for a series of short climbs at first before topping out with a 4km climb mid-stage.

Weather remained dry on Tuesday, a contrast to Monday’s three hours and forty five minutes of warm rain and wet roads.

On Wednesday the Tour of China I moves to nearby Chongqing for another hilly day in a unique and short 84km stage along a mountain ridge line.

Mehdi Benhamouda:

“Today the stage was short and really fast with some hills. The hills were short and steep and we climbed for 4 kilometers. I’m feeling good after the 4th stage and I hope I can sprint again in stage 5 to do a good result.”