6 out of 7 for Magnier as he overcomes Welsford and Kanter at Tour of Guangxi opener

How quickly has the season flown by? We barely had time to blink after the Tour de France, and here we are already at the final WorldTour race of the season. Six stages await in China, featuring a stellar field of riders. Juan Ayuso, Paul Magnier, Tom Pidcock, Jarno Widar, Jordi Meeus, Olav Kooij, Neilson Powless… It’s going to be a treat!

The first stages were supposed to be for the sprinters, and of all the stages, the first one—which ran to and from Chongzuo—was the easiest. It would be 149 kilometers of almost entirely flat terrain.

A surprisingly strong breakaway group did form. Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) was part of it, along with Frederik Dversnes (Uno-X Mobility) and Patrick Gamer (Jayco AlUla).

The peloton gave the trio some breathing room, with sprinter teams such as Soudal Quick-Step, Decathlon CMA CGM, and Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe doing the work.

In the final ten kilometers, the early breakaway riders were caught, but who else but Dries De Bondt set the pace once again.

The Belgian was joined by his compatriot and national champion Rune Herregodts (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), but it was Magnier’s team in particular that had taken control of the race. As a result, that attempt was also neutralized.

Visma | Lease a Bike put together a strong train to support Jakobsen, but Decathlon CMA CGM came out on top for Kooij. However, he got boxed in during the final kilometer and was unable to launch a sprint.

Magnier, completely isolated, fought his way through the peloton and sprinted with powerful strokes to victory. Kooij and Jakobsen finished just outside the top ten.