Tour of Guangxi (st. 4)

Spaniard from Movistar Team shows good late-season legs, finishes just 15" behind day's winner and new GC leader Gianni Moscon (SKY).

The decisive stage four of the Tour of Guangxi -152km finishing atop the Mashan Nongla scenic spot, a 3km climb at over 7% average gradient- offered a good performance from Rubén Fernández (Movistar Team), whose most recent 2018 late-season races are showing he’s on track to find back his best legs as a pro.

The Murcia native took 8th place, 15″ in arrears of Gianni Moscon (SKY), who left behind all of his rivals halfway through the ascent to finish solo, ahead of Felix Grosscharner (BOH), Sergei Chernetski (AST) and future Movistar Team rider Carlos Verona (MTS), 4th across the line. Winner Anacona (18th, +28″) and Jasha Sütterlin (+38″) also finished near the top places.

The race sees Moscon build a significant lead before two stages which -even if long, like Saturday’s 212km from Liuzhou to Guilin, with four rated ascents- should offer more chances to the fastest men in the bunch following today’s crucial mountain.

Picture (c): BettiniPhoto.net