author：qinghaihu publish time：2019-07-21
By: Samuel Turner
The Dutchman Alex Molenaar of Monkey Town has taken the eighth stage in the Tour of Qinghai Lake with a spectacular individual performance. In second place was Braislau Samoilau (Minsk Cycling Club) and third was Ricardo Aguirre (Interpro Cycling Academy). Robinson Chalapud (Medellin) took fourth position, keeping him the leader of the general classification. Eduard Grosu (Delko Marseille Provence) finished fifth and still holds the green jersey.
The longest stage in the Tour of Qinghai Lake saw riders depart from Xihaizhen and arrive in Qingshizui after 224km. Freezing rain and cold temperatures were present the entire day. After a few kilometres from the start, nine men broke away from the group: Evaldas Siskevicius and Jeremy Leveau (Delko Marseille Provence), Massimo Rosa (Neri Selle Italia KTM), Luke Mudgway and Daire Feeley (Evopro Racing), Alex Molenaar, Adrian Banaszek (Volster Atalanta Team), Samuel Volkers (Memil Pro Cycling) and Andriy Kulyk (Shenzen Xidesheng Cycling Team).
The breakaway managed a distance of almost three minutes from the peloton. In the group, Medellin controlled a strong, steady pace. On the long climb to the mountain, the breakaway crumbled, leaving only three cyclists. Shortly after, Molenaar rode alone. On the descent, Samoilau tried desperately to close the gap, however Aguirre and Chalapud did not let him escape. Molenaar defended the gap and reached the finish line all alone.
“It was mentally very hard,” Molenaar said, describing the difficult climb and keeping the distance from such intense pressure behind him. “Keep pushing is the only thing I did.”
He claimed the weather was very cold in the rain, but being in the breakaway kept him warm. The high altitude climb to 3747m was tough for the Dutch rider, who lives below sea level in the Netherlands.
“The first week was very hard for me because of the altitude. Now I can handle it and you can see it was a good day for me.”
Chalapud still leads the race and was proud to maintain the position.
“I’m happy because today it was important to do well,” the Colombian said. “Tomorrow I will give my best because the stage will be difficult, but I also trust my team.”
Meanwhile, young Molenaar will recover with his team and focus on the task ahead of taking maximum stages. The twenty year old may need some time to let the magnitude of his victory at Qinghai Lake sink in.
“It’s unbelievable, taking a pro win,” he said. “No words.”
