Kononenko delivers Kolss stage victory at Qinghai Lake

Former race winner Myhaylo Kononenko of the Kolss Cycling topped the remnants of a nine-rider breakaway to win the seventh stage of the 2017 Tour of Qinghai Lake in China on Saturday,  July 22.

The 29-year-old Ukrainian crossed the line ahead of Dutchman Sven van Luijk (Monkey Town Continental Team) and Colombian Francisco Colorado (Ningxia Sports Lottery-Livall) at the end of the 169-kilometre stage from Qilian to Menyuan. The trio escaped from the original break inside the 15km mark after initially launching inside the first 10km.

The trio opened up a max lead of more than four minutes before the peloton organised its chase, but strong winds held them at bay.

For Monkey Town, van Luijk’s second-place finish marks the third podium this week for the UCI Dutch-registered Continental team formerly known as Parkhotel-Valkenburg.

On Stage 6, 27-year-old Italian climber Antonio Santoro rode to a second-place finish behind compatriot Damiano Cunego (Nippo-Vini Fantini) atop Qilian Mountain just two days after taking third on Stage 4.

However, van Luijk was not happy with his 39th-place performance on the mountain stage that saw him finish more than seven minutes off the winner and as a result sought redemption the following day.

“Yesterday I was a bit disappointed about my performance, so this morning I sent a message to my family that I would take revenge and go in to a breakaway,” van Luijk explained to Eurosport after the stage. “After 10k I was already in a breakaway, but I think it’s pretty difficult with eight or nine guys to go to the end, but I had to try and in the final my legs were still good.

“It was amazing the three of us could finish it off,” he continued. “But I think the best won, he was the strongest of the three, so I am happy with my second place.”

As far as what his family will think following his bold prediction.

“I think they will be very proud of me that I did what I said,” van Luijk said.

Santoro is currently sixth overall at 1 minute 49 seconds off general classification with six stages to go in the UCI Asia Tour’s crowning jewel. Van Luijk said he is motivated by his team’s performance and is eager to collect more placements.

“I think we motivate each other,” he said. “Yesterday Antonio was really good and that motivates me also to do the best. 

“I think we have a strong, balanced team,” van Luijk continued. “We have a sprinter, we have someone who is one of the best climbers in the peloton and I go into a lot of breakaways — there is a good atmosphere inside the team.

Not only does Monkey Town have something to celebrate regarding van Luijk’s performance on the day, team sprinter Marco Zanotti (ITA), who started the race suffering from an illness, is also back on form with a second place in the sole intermediate sprint as well as a sixth place stage finish.

“We are happy with second place today, and we are also happy with Marco’s second in the sprints,” team director Paul Tabak told Eurosport. “We try every day to maximise our opportunities.

“You know our team, we like to ride, we like to fight,” he added. “If we are not in the breakaway, we are going to close the breakaway. We are happy Marco is back and ready for the upcoming sprint stages, but for sure we are going to try to put Antonio in the best possible position on GC.”

Current race leader Venezuelan Yonathan Monsalve of the local Qinghai Tianyoude cycling team finished in the second group in 48th position — 47 seconds back on the stage winner — but remained in the yellow jersey.

“I am very tired, because we worked very hard on the climb yesterday,” said Monsalve referring to his fourth-place result to earn the jersey atop 4,120 metres at the Qilian Mountain summit finish. “It took a lot out of me for today, but I am happy to defend the yellow jersey today and will hope to do so again tomorrow.”

Sunday’s Stage 8 consists of a massive 224km day on the bike with one hors catégorie climb and one intermediate sprint not far from the finish in Ping’an.

1. Mykhaylo Kononenko, UKR, Kolss Cycling Team, 4:06:48

2. Sven van Luijk, NED, Monkey Town Continental Team, s.t.

3. Francisco Colorado, COL, Ningxia Sports Lottery-Livall Cycling Team, Kolss Cycling Team, +0:02

1. Yonathan Monsalve, VEN, Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team, 19:21:28

2. Davide Mucelli, ITA, Meridiana Kamen, +0:07

3. Mauricio Ortega, COL, RTS-Monton Racing, +0:20

Race leader (yellow jersey): Yonathan Monsalve, VEN, Qinghai Tianyoude Cycling Team

Points leader (green jersey): Ahmet Örken, TUR, Torku Şekerspor

Mountains leader (polka dot jersey): Mauricio Ortega, COL, RTS-Monton Racing

Best Asian rider (blue jersey): Yevgeniy Gidich, KAZ, Vino-Astana Motors

Teams classification: Meridiana Kamen Team, 70:37:08

For full results click here.