Fifteen wins in 2025. and ten (!) in just one month: Magnier can’t be stopped, even on the other side of the world

Anyone who wanted to see the start of the six-day stage race in China had to set their alarm clock early. In the middle of the night, the men set off for a not-too-long opening day. Three brave men were up for it despite the after-effects of jet lag: Aurélien Paret-Peintre (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Rémy Rochas (Groupama-FDJ), and Julius Johansen (UAE Emirates-XRG).

The three found each other before Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe and Soudal-Quick Step, the teams of sprinters Jordi Meeus and Magnier controlled the peloton. Because they kept it so short, Rochas and Paret-Peintre decided that one local lap was enough. They waited for the peloton, with Johansen continuing. However, he would also be caught.

This was due to accelerations in the peloton, where several riders wanted to break away. It even caused a break, with Magnier on the wrong side. Soudal-Quick Step solved the problem and, together with Red Bull and Cofidis, put another man at the front. Attila Valter (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) were the new riders who broke away.

With sixty kilometers to go, the two had a good minute's lead, but Valter and Le Berre kept going and were only caught 22 kilometers from the finish. The sprinter teams got what they wanted and thundered towards a sprint in Fangchenggang. Despite all the work done by Red Bull in particular, it was Magnier who got the job done for The Wolfpack, with a hard crash in the sprint preparation.