Originally published on SOHU
Spread your wings and pursue your dream in Zhanghe. The two-day Jinlongquan 2024 Zhanghe International Road Cycling Race will usher in the most interesting city circuit race on the second day. An adrenaline-filled sprint duel will be staged in the "treasure" of Zhanghe - Aifeike Aviation Town. After witnessing the breakout duel of Australian compatriots in the first stage, can the two Australian continental teams, St. George and CCACHE x Par Küp, continue to win? Can the Li Ning Star Continental Team, which won the third place in a single station, help the sprint leader Niu Yikui win a city? Can the Thai Lujia Insurance Continental Team, which missed the opportunity to break through, and the Feirui Mongolia Continental Team, which was killed in the last climb, turn the tide? They have become one of the biggest highlights of the city circuit race on the second day.
The sprint showdown, a city circuit race with a total of 10 laps started at 9 am. The route was along the large loop line in the Aviation Industrial Park, Hongtu Avenue, and Aifei Ke Avenue. Different from the exciting cycling around the undulating road of Zhanghe River on the first day, the second day's competition was characterized by short distance, intense pace and low temperature, which would test the players' short-distance anaerobic and sprinting capabilities of the 20 teams.
In the first half of the race, Australia's CCACHE x Par Küp, St. George and local Li Ning Star Continental Team had a strong control of the field. These three teams, currently in the top three of the GC total score and team total score , closely guarded the opponent in an attempt to lead the race into a large group sprint at the finish line.
Faced with the control of strong teams, several teams that were also eager for a single station, such as Feirui Mongolia, Huansheng-SCOM-Taishan Sports, Badiri, Jichi Ruibao and others, tried to break through, especially Jichi Ruibao team's GC rider Dortmund , who flew alone. Unfortunately, his sporadic attacks were all resolved by the main group.
At the beginning of the second half of the race, a stable small group of three people broke through. The main group maintained an average speed of 50km/h and continued to control the field. There was always a time difference of about half a minute between the two groups.
The 80km race lasted for 1 hour and 49 minutes, and the finish line saw a large group sprint. The 21-year-old John Charles Carter from the CCACHE x Par Küp Continental Team won another victory, while Dzianis Marchuk from the Jichi Ruibao Team and Wu Junjie from the Giant Continental Team won the second and third place.
After two days of fierce competition, the Australian CCACHE x Par Küp Continental Team won two single-station championships and also firmly locked the team's overall championship, becoming the biggest winner. The St. George Continental Team and the Li Ning Star Continental Team won the second and third place in the team's overall score. The top three in the individual overall score were: John Charles Carter of the CCACHE x Par Küp Continental Team, Ben Carman of the St. George Continental Team, and Sun Wentao of the Li Ning Star Continental Team. So far, the Jinlongquan 2024 Tour of Zhanghe International Road Cycling Race has come to a successful conclusion.
