author：qinghaihu publish time：2016-07-20
QINGHAI, China—Ukrainian Vitaliy Buts (Kolss-BDC) outsprinted Slovenian Matej Mugerli (Synergy Baku Cycling Project) to claim the 147km namesake stage of the 15th ‘Qinghai Rural Credit Cup’ Tour of Qinghai Lake on Wednesday, July 20.
Admittedly exhausted after racing across the second hors catégorie climb in as many days, with this one 31km in length and reaching a slightly lower elevation (3,766m) than the day before (3,782m). Buts told media after the race he was inspired to fight on when his teammate and countryman Mykhaylo Kononenko, who finished third, joined him in the final.
“At the end, I was a tired, but I had Kononenko with me it made me want to win stage,” said Buts, who finished second in the Ukrainian national road race last month.
With more stages at altitude remaining in the 13-stage, 1,916-kilometre unofficial ‘fourth grand tour’ of cycling, Buts insists he is not done fighting.
“There are still some more mountain stages,” he said. “But we will try with team tactics to go with the team to the finish.”
For the polka dot jersey holder and two-time most aggressive rider, Mauricio Ortega (RTS-Santic), he is pleased to arrive in the first group and hold on to the KOM (king of the mountain) jersey.
“I felt strong today,” said the 35-year-old Colombian who finished 34th (+0:03”) on the day. “It was very important for me to keep the mountains classifications following today’s stage.”
On the flip side, Australian riders Nathan Elliott (Kenyan Riders Downunder) and Paul van der Ploeg (State of Matter-MAAP) had a different perspective on the race.
“I was struggling,” said Elliott, who found himself in the gruppetto after the peloton split into three main groups at the base of the climb 52km into the stage. “The past two days have been as hard as any I’ve encountered in my racing career – the altitude, the length of the climbs and the quality of the field are all as tough as I’ve ever encountered.
Former mountain bike eliminator world champion van der Ploeg, who stands 195cm and weights 87kg, was suffering from an infection on his upper right leg above the knee, which he admits played a huge role in not making the time cut.
“That was brutal,” he explained. “I was eight minutes behind gruppetto going across the top and finished just behind them in the broom wagon.
“It was a brutal day for sure,” van der Ploeg continued. “I have this mad infection on my leg which made my whole leg swell up. I think it would have been okay in gruppetto without it, but I just couldn’t pedal because I was in too much pain.”
BRIEF RESULTS
Stage 4 Classification
General Classification
Classification Leaders
Race Leader (Yellow Jersey): Vitaliy Buts, UKR, Kolss-BDC
Points Leader (Green Jersey): Vitaliy Buts, UKR, Kolss-BDC
Mountains leader (Polka Dot Jersey): Mauricio Ortega, COL, RTS-Santic
Best Asian Rider (Blue Jersey): Yevgeniy Gidich, KAZ, Vino 4ever SKO
Most Aggressive: Zhishan Zhang, CHN, Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team
Teams classification: Kolss-BDC, 39:31:06
