Matthew Gibson (Burgos BH) has taken the thirteenth and final stage in the Tour of Qinghai Lake. In second place was Roy Eefting (Memil Pro Cycling) and in third was Bas Van der Kooij (Monkey Town). Eduard Grosu (Delko Merseille Provence) held on to claim the green sprinters jersey. Robinson Chalapud also maintained the yellow jersey, meaning victory in the Tour of Qinghai Lake for him and his team, Medellin.

Today’s final stage of racing consisted of a 117km circuit in the town of Yinchuan. Six laps gave riders the chance to thoroughly analyse the route before making their assault on the finish line. Another low altitude city race meant lots of opportunity for sprinters to finish the Tour of Qinghai Lake with maximum points.

Halfway through the stage, three riders break away: Marcus Culey (Team Sapura Cycling), Aaron Gate (Evopro Racing) and Daniel Bichlmann (Bike Aid), maintaining at most a gap of 2 minutes 45 seconds. Culey took the first sprint. The breakaway maintained until the final lap, in which the group engulfed the riders. Gibson bested Eefting in the last stretch, beating the Dutchman who won two stages in two days.

“I’m over the moon to pull off a win and prove to myself I’ve still got it,” he claimed. 

Gibson failed to reach the podium throughout the previous stages, but was always fighting amongst the bunch.

‘The team were doing a great job, but I wasn’t quite there in the rest of the stages,” Gibson said, reinforcing the relief and joy in today’s victory. 

Like many other riders he found the height of the Tour of Qinghai Lake difficult and managed to find his strength in the lower stages. 

“The altitude has made it a bit harder – but mega to be able to finish it off the way I did.”

One team who didn’t struggle at altitude were the resilient Colombian team of Medellin. They relished the tough, high mountain climbs and it showed with Chalapud taking the yellow jersey in the general classification. The teamwork was evident throughout the race and they were consistently strong from the very start. 

“We always work as a team with only one leader. For me, I prepared and trained very good for this race,” the winner Chalapud told reporters.

The secret to their success was simple, according to him. 

“The secret is living in altitude, but also working as a team – this is our power.”

After a heavily dominated race by the Colombians, they look forward to returning next year.

“We want to come back to China for the fans and the landscape of the race,” Chalapud said. “We hope they have us back!”

Another rider who hopes to return soon was green jersey winner Grosu. After last year’s abandoning of the race due to a painful crash, he felt great to claim the individual points classification and mark a successful tour for himself and Delko. 

“Now I feel better – I take the jersey home with a big gap between me and the second place,” he said.

After thirteen stages of intense competition between incredible athletes, the Tour of Qinghai Lake comes to an end. After 3000km of high altitude climbs, desert sprints, city circuits and lakeside rides the Colombians go home with the victory. We wait with baited breath to see which team takes out next year’s ‘Race in the Sky’.