author：qinghaihu publish time：2018-07-30
Onur Balkan avoids crash with points leader Eduard Grosu to take home stage victory prior to much needed rest day at 17th Tour of Qinghai Lake …
Torku Şekerspor sports director Branko Filip was pragmatic when talking about his team’s performance in the sprint finals since taking second and third on the opening stage of the 17th Tour of Qinghai Lake more than a week ago. However the former Slovenian cyclist and UCI World Cycling Centre coach was clearly pleased with 22-year-old sprinter Onur Balkan’s Stage 9 victory in Wuwei, China on Monday.
After a failed four-man break was shut down inside the final 10 kilometres recently crowned Turkish road race champion showed superior speed in the closing metres of the undulating 175km stage from Jinchang with an explosive launch from 350 metres, according to Italian runner-up Luca Pacioni (Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia), who now has three second-place stage finishes in the race.
Stage 2 winner Brenton Jones (Delko-Marseille Provence KTM) of Australia, a heavy favourite for the final four stages — specifically the closing three city circuits, rounded out the podium in third.
Balkan, who Filip has yet to feel comfortable in the 100-plus rider bunch sprints fired early but still narrowly escaped a crash with three-time stage winner and points leader Eduard Grosu (Nippo-Vini Fantini) who was attempting to pass on the far right near the barrier before running out of real estate and slamming into the barricade at 75 km/h and sliding on the scorching asphalt less than 20m from the finish line.
“I told guys go last 3km on front and do max and we will see, because Onur is not used to be in such a big bunch sprint,” Filip explained. “So we just want to bring him last straight front and then he has to do his job and he made it great.”
The 25-year-old Romanian road race champion limped across the finish before being escorted to the hospital in an ambulance for further attention. Latest word on the severity of his injuries came from Grosu himself, who texted Tutto Bici journalist Diego Barbera confirming a broken scapula.
“I didn’t see sprint,” said Filip. “I hope Eduard is great. He’s a good guy and I wish him all the best.”
Other than the green jersey returning to Pacioni, there are no other classification changes heading into the two-week, 13-stage UCI 2.HC Asia Tour road race’s only rest day. The blue jersey still belongs on the back of Kazakhstan’s Ilya Davidenok (Beijing XDS-Innova), while both the yellow leader’s jersey and polka-dot mountains jersey will most likely remain with two-time stage winner Hernan Aguirre (Manzana Postobón) until the finale on Saturday.
The Colombian holds a 1-minute 5-second advantage on general classification over teammate and fellow countryman Hernando Bohórquez. Only four sprint stages remain, starting with a 124km course containing the final categorised climb — a Cat. 4 — from Minqin to the Tengger Desert.
“Onur is confident,” said Filip. “He has six or seven UCI wins, he is Turkish champion, he just needs strong races. So with strong races he will get better.
“We plan on last four stages also for Batuhan [Özgür] because they are more easier, flat. Batuhan will get rest. Onur is more harder races, classic races but [Batuhan] is really bunch sprint, pure sprinter but we are hoping for both of them to get chance.”
