Another fast day in Taihu Lake

Stage 3 of the Tour of Taihu Lake was another incredibly fast day. At 116 kilometers, the peloton completed the distance in 2 hours 16 minutes, at a staggering average of 51km/h.

The speed meant no real breakaway succeeded for the day. Team Novo Nordisk looked to get into any possible moves but when that didn’t pan out, the focus turned to the fast finish with Hamish Beadle as the protected rider again.

Hamish Beadle:

“Today was a tough one again. These finishes are really fast with nothing too technical, and also short stages which means everyone is able to hang on. So it really makes the sprints difficult and dangerous.”

“The boys tried for the break, but nothing went all day as the peloton kept the speed high. The sprint was pretty fast and messy, I did my best but these finishes are proving to be a bit too pure of a sprint for me. I tried to move up and get as close as I could but the last 1km was pretty crazy. So we are looking for more opportunities in the coming days.”

Stage 4 is the penultimate day of the race and the longest one, from Changxing to Huzhou over 117 km.