Walscheid wins Tour of Hainan third stage

The 2016 Tour of Hainan witness a revenge play that first stage's runner-up Max Walscheid from Team Giant-Alpecin finished the 209.2 KM ride first on Monday, taking the overall leader's yellow jersey from Rafael Andriato of Wilier Triestina-Southeast.

Walscheid, who also got the green jersey today, timed 5 hours 9 minutes 8 seconds from Haikou to Chengmai, Hainan, beating Andrea Pasqualon from Team Roth arriving at almost the same time by one astonishing spurt before the finish line.

The former overall leader Rafael Andriato started to make effort late in the final straight, that make him is now six seconds adrift of the overall leader. And the second stage winner Ruslan Tleubayev of Astana is ranked third with the same time as Andriato.

Relying on the solid performance on climbs, Zhao Jingbiao from Wisdom-Hengxiang Cycling Team still keeps polka-dot jersey as the best climber, though his teammate Ma Guangtong becoming the first rider passing the KOM CAT.4 on the third stage today.

"It was great to grab the yellow jersey, and it is not for me but also for the whole team. Maybe I will not keep the yellow jersey long, but we will do our best to defend it in the following rides," Walscheid told press after the ride.

This year's Tour of Hainan will last 9 days, and the next stage will be from Chengmai to Danzhou, one Northern city of Hainan, covering a total distance of 159.4 kilometers. Endite