Marini clips Mareczko in photo finish at Tour of Qinghai Lake

LINXIA, China—After two unlucky seasons filled with race-ending injuries, Italian sprinter Nicolas Marini (Nippo-Vini Fantini) came to the 15th ‘Qinghai Rural Credit Cup’ Tour of Qinghai Lake (UCI 2.HC) as a man on a mission.

The 22-year-old outdueled stage 2 winner and former Aspiratori Otelli (2011) teammate Jakub Mareczko (Wilier Triestina-Southeast) in a photo finish at the end of 235km to win stage 8 on Sunday, July 24.

“I lost 6kg in the last 3 months and I prepared very well for this tour,” Marini told Eurosport. “I know the other riders very well … Mareczko was my teammate and I know he is very fast, but I knew I could beat him and I am very happy to win for my team.”

Fellow Italian Francesco Chicchi (Androni Giocattoli-Spidermec) was third, followed by five-time stage winner and last year’s points champion Marko Kump (Lampre-Merida), who is still recovering from bruised ribs following a mass pileup in the closing 2km on the opening stage last Sunday.

For Mareczko, it was a bittersweet loss, but after four leg-smashing days in the mountains, the Polish-born 22-year-old Italian is pleased with second place and looks forward to contending in the final five stages for another win.

“I started sprint so early because I didn’t have any teammates in the last kilometre because they work all day after the KOM,” Mareczko told Eurosport. “I am happy for this second place and maybe after the rest tomorrow our team can be fresh and look for more stage wins in the second week of racing.”

Prior to the race, the three-time Tour of China II (2.1) stage winner and race runner up, had failed to reach the finish on any of his 11 previous starts in 2016, so the opportunity to do well at the sprinter-friendly Qinghai Lake had become a necessity. But before Marini could get to the three remaining circuit races to close the 13-stage, 1,916km UCI Asia Tour road race, he had to first successfully negotiate three brutal mountain stages containing hors catégorie climbs and staggering altitudes in excess of 4000m (4,120m max).

“This year has been crazy,” said the 2015 Tour of Japan stage winner. “I didn’t finish a race and there was always a reason, so to have a victory is one of the best feelings – this is the biggest win of my career.”

Only one category 2 climb (1,810m elevation) at the 177.3km mark stood between the start in Ledu and the finish in Linxia, with Colombian Carlos Quintero (China Continental Team of Gansu Bank) claiming the KOM (King of the Mountain) over Taras Voropayev (Vino 4ever SKO), who along with Tomáš Harag (Dukla Banska Bystrica) was in a three-man break for the majority of the day with a time gap reaching nearly four minutes (3:50).

After Harag was dropped at the 100km mark, Quintero would ride off from Voropayev on the climb before ultimately being reeled in with 43km to go.

“It was a very long stage and my team did a perfect job,” explained Marini. “On the climb, we were all together and decided to work with Southeast to arrive at the sprint because I felt like I had good legs.

“However, I was a bit behind at 300m and had to start my sprint early and go very long,” he continued. “But I got the victory and now I can enjoy the rest day tomorrow with a smile on my face.”

Ukrainian Vitaliy Buts (Kolss-BDC) continues his stranglehold on both the general classification (GC) and points classification, with teammate and fellow stage winner Sergey Lagkuti (UKR) second on GC just one second back followed by Italian Alberto Cecchin (Team Roth) at 23 seconds.

Stage 8 Classification

1. Nicolas Marini, ITA, Nippo-Vini Fantini, 5:19:18

2. Jakub Mareczko, ITA, Wilier Triestina-Southeast, s.t.

3. Francesco Chicchi, ITA, Androni Giocattoli-Spidermec, s.t.

General Classification

1. Vitaliy Buts, UKR, Kolss-BDC, 31:04:51

2. Sergiy Lagkuti, UKR, Kolss-BDC, 0:01

3. Alberto Cecchin, ITA, Team Roth, 0:23

Classification Leaders

Race Leader (Yellow Jersey): Vitaliy Buts, UKR, Kolss-BDC

Points Leader (Green Jersey): Vitaliy Buts, UKR, Kolss-BDC

Mountains leader (Polka Dot Jersey): Mauricio Ortega, COL, RTS-Santic

Best Asian Rider (Blue Jersey): Zhandos Bizhigitov, KAZ, Vino 4ever SKO

Most Aggressive: Carlos Quintero, COL, China Continental Team of Gansu Bank

Teams classification: Kolss-BDC, 93:18:34