Grosu grabs first as Delko Guide the way to victory

author：qinghaihu  publish time：2019-07-16

By: Samuel Turner

Eduard Grosu has taken the victory in the third stage of the Tour of Qinghai Lake from Douba to Guide. Behind the Romanian from Delko Marseille Provence came Luca Pacioni (Neri Selle Italia KTM) and Jonathan Monsalve (Tianyoude Hotel Cycling Team). The new leader of the race is Oscar Sevilla (Medellin) with the Spaniard continuing his impressive run.

Beginning in Douba, the 140km race today weaved through gorgeous mountains and pastures to arrive at Guide. The notoriously difficult climb to the first KOM of this year’s race was located at 3820m above sea level – a grim reminder of the intense level of athleticism on show.

A break away of Colombian riders saw Alvaro Duarte earn the KOM polka-dot jersey (China Continental Team of Gansu Bank) for his gruelling work ascending the mountain.

The descent however told a different story. Grosu explained on the downhill his team went ‘full gas’ and then put two riders in the front to lead the aggressiveness and control the pack. They jostled with Neri during the descent but Grosu put his victory down to his teammates performance and experience gained from 2018.

“I won this stage last year so I know how to manage it,” Grosu told reporters. “Today I feel so strong and I know if I’m in a good position I can win the race.”

With Grosu’s win today and Brenton Jones’ yesterday, the Delko sprinters are proving formidable and they are both confident looking to the next stages of the race.

“I think it’s perfect. Two victories in three stages, it’s perfect, we cannot expect more.”