With the kind of prize money that was at stake- it was inevitable that both individuals and teams were going to constantly try and break away, making for an arduous and fast-paced race.  The Specialized strategy was to try and set up Manan for a win in a group sprint at the finish- and the rest of the team’s mission was therefore to chase down every single breakaway, unless it happened to have a strong Specialized rider in it.

This is pretty much what happened for the first half of the race, which took in a big loop of brand new highway around Ganzhou. Frequent attacks were reeled in by Specialized and a couple of other top teams, with the pace topping 60kph more than a couple of times.  The route then turned back towards town, with 6 laps of a 10km inner-city circuit.  Here, the ground ripe for attacking, with plenty of sharp corners, bottlenecks and a roundabout to occupy the attention of riders and provide would-be escapees with an opportunity to put vital distance between themselves and the peloton.  Thankfully, when it finally happened, it was a four man breakaway including Specialized’s Simon Cui, and a Champion System rider- not only could we relax, but we knew that one of the most dangerous opposing teams would not be chasing either.

However, with other strong teams such as HKCSC still working hard, the breakaway only lasted a few laps of the circuit.  Champion System were soon at the front, attacking out of the corners and pushing the pace to some of the fastest in the race. The bunch was quickly strung out, and nearly split a couple of times. In the confusion Manan managed to break away, taking a couple of riders with him and, after a couple more bridged the gap shortly after, formed a 5-man group pulling a pace of 56-58kph. This time, the breakaway stuck, and when it came down to the finish, Manan simply outclassed the opposition, riding across the line comfortably ahead of the rest of the group.  Behind him, the peloton was gearing up for a big sprint finish, with the points that would decide the team prize still up for grabs. In the event, Specialized was pipped to the post by HKCSC and Champion System, coming in 3^rd overall (with William Neijssen taking 11^th)- a very respectable result considering the work that had gone in to controlling the peloton and helping to place Manan for his ultimate victory.


Picture courtesy of qqride.com // More pictures on www.QQride.com