Another day, another win for our rider in China.
Paul Magnier displayed again his impeccable form as he became just the second rider to reach 16 victories this season, at the end of the Tour of Guangxi’s second stage, which concluded in Jingxi, after almost 180 kilometers. It was an emphatic sprint win for the Frenchman, who consolidated his place at the top of the general classification and will continue to wear the race’s red jersey.
The final part of the stage was also the most complicated one. On the only classified climb of the day, while the breakaway was being reduced to just three men, several riders attacked from the bunch in an attempt to put pressure and fragment it. Just as it had done until that moment, Soudal Quick-Step controlled these moves and brought them back before eventually overhauling the escapees. Another attack, this time with five kilometers to go, tried to surprise the sprinters’ teams, but the peloton remained as one and went full speed under the flamme rouge.
It was another hectic bunch sprint, but Paul Magnier remained calm and took the right wheels before unleashing a blistering speed inside the last 150 meters that saw him put several bike lengths into his opponents. Soudal Quick-Step’s speedster crossed the line arms aloft for the second day in a row, racking up the team’s third victory in the past 24 hours. At the same time, Paul became the first Frenchman in 28 years to get to 16 wins in a single season, a stunning achievement for the 21-year-old.
“We had another good day at the office. It was fast today and the breakaway was strong, but Warre was incredibly strong and was motivated to do a great job, especially as he won here last year and we wanted to take the victory again. I saved energy in the bunch, then Dries put me in a perfect position for the finishing straight, and I did my best in the sprint. I am happy with my two victories so far, and we’ll just see what we can do in the remaining stages”, Magnier explained after the podium ceremony.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
