The 2013 Tour De Taiwan started in the south of the island today, and we'll be gradually heading north over the next seven days of the race.
Posted On: 19th March, 2013
The 2013 Tour De Taiwan started in the south of the island today, and we'll be gradually heading north over the next seven days of the race. Today's stage was very reminiscent of a Belgian "Kermesse", 12 laps of a 12 km long circuit around the Dapeng Bay Leisure Area. With temperatures soaring into the mid thirties and high humidity, the acclimatisation for the Madison Genesis Team even more severe than anticipated.
On a very fast, furious and unpredictable stage, the team were very vigilant by placing a rider in most of the (numerous) break-away attempts. With a couple of laps to go, there was a huge crash in the bunch and a small group slipped away. Two riders from this group managed to hold off the fast approaching peloton (being lead by Dom Jelfs and Andy Tennant) to win the stage with a slender eight second advantage. Typically for this race the time gaps are very small so it was great to see Ian Bibby steal a few bonus seconds mid-stage at the second intermediate sprint which helped him move up to seventh in the general classification.
"It was a really difficult day for the lads, there was a lot to get used to. I'm pleased they all managed to get through today without losing time. The race is still very much alive for them all. If there hadn't been a slight confusion between Ian and Andy with 300 meters to go the result could have been even better." Team Manager - Roger Hammond
Click here for a full race report
Click here for Liam Holohan's Garmin Connect data
