Kump claims third stage win in six days at Tour of Qinghai Lake

Slovenian Marko Kump emphatically stamps his sprint dominance with stage 6 victory, while Iranian Hossein Alizadeh holds on to yellow jersey…

Guide, CHINA—An eight-man group nearly pulled off a 128-kilometre break before being reeled in by the peloton inside the closing 100 metres when Slovenian Marko Kump (Adria Mobil) sprinted past to claim his third stage win in six days at the 14th ‘Qinghai Rural Credit Cup’ Tour of Qinghai Lake (UCI 2.HC). Italian Liam Bertazzo (Southeast), who has stepped into his team’s sprinter role after teammate and compatriot Jakub Marecako was forced to abandon due to a knee injury suffered during a crash on stage 4, finished second while stage 4 winner Ivan Savitsky (RusVelo) of Russia finished third.

The 26-year-old admitted that while he had targeted the 138-kilometre stage 6 prior to the race, he was not feeling his best heading into the category 1 climb at the 85-kilometre mark at 3,777 metres in elevation.

“Before this stage I knew that if felt good I could make it with the group to the finish but I didn’t feel good in the beginning of the stage,” said Kump, who claimed the hors catégorie climb on stage 5 took some of the sting out of his legs. “But I kept going and when I was on the top of the climb I realised I was not that far behind.

“We caught the last rider a few metres before the finish line, and thanks to my teammate Domen [Novak] I was able to get the win.”

Kump’s latest win comes a day after his teammate and fellow countryman Primož Roglič claimed victory on a confusing finish that witnessed Radoslav Rogina (Adria Mobil) take a wrong turn inside the final 500 metres which cost him a potential stage win and chance for the overall lead that instead went from Ukrainian Oleksandr Polivoda (Kolss-BDC) to Iranian Hossein Alizadeh (RTS-Santic).

After further deliberation, the Chief Commissaire John McDonnell (NZL) decided overnight that due to incorrect instruction from a road official, Rogina would be allowed to finish with the same time as Hossein, a former stage and race winner (2012). However due to bonus time awarded to Hossein for his second-place finish, Rogina still trails the new race leader by five seconds instead of 18 as was posted following the stage.

“This is for me is a good decision of the chief commissaire” said Adria Mobil sports director Bostjan Mervar. “And we must be satisfied with the decision.

“”We will try to lift the yellow jersey,” he continued. “For us, later is better because when you take the jersey you must defend it and now that responsibility falls on Santic.”

The eight-man break consisted of Chun Kai Feng (Lampre-Merida), Jasper Ockeloen (Parkhotel-Valkenburg), Vladimir Lopezgil (China Continental Team of Gansu Bank), Thomas Vaubourzeix (Lupus Racing Team), and two riders from AirGas-Safeway – Luis Lemus and Griffin Easter – as well as two riders from Amore & Vita-Selle SMP – Marco Zamparella and Volodymyr Kogut.

“They caught me with 25m remaining,” said Vaubourzeix, who finished third overall last year and currently sits 2:54 down on Alizadeh with seven stages remaining. “I did not want to reach the sprint with some of the other, so I saw a small climb and attacked with all I had at 5km to go but it was not enough.”

The 13-stage, 2,027-kilometre Asia Tour race continues on Saturday with the 190km stage 7 from Guide to Xunhua.

Aaron S. Lee | Follow on Twitter

Photos: Daebong Kim | 7Cycling

Slovenian Marko Kump (Adria Mobil) captures his third stage win in six days at the 14th Tour of Qinghai Lake on Friday, July 10, in Guide, China.

American cyclist Griffin Easter (AirGas-Safeway) is all smiles after participating in an eight-man breakaway for 128 kilometres.

Frenchman Thomas Vaubourzeix (Lupus Racing Team), who finished third overall in 2014, was one of eight riders on the 128km break, and was ultimately caught just 25 metres from the finish line.