01:08Danjou then is where we leave, the place where the first stage finished, for another trip along the coast past
01:14the Ocean Flower Island and then it's inland for the first of four climbs.
01:18Two intermediate sprints along the way, three category one climbs, a real test of those climbers' legs. The last of
01:25the climbs, an eight kilometre effort, comes in the last 15 kilometres of the stage and then a fast descent
01:31to the finish line.
01:32Over 200 kilometres, 214.1 in total facing the riders on stage two of the 17th edition of the Tour
01:42of Hainan.
01:42As ever, a blend of European experience and Asian flavour.
01:47And a big day out for the Maya Jaune, the yellow jersey, the race leader, Dusan Rajevic.
01:53His race lead very much in question as those sprinters' legs head for the hills. A day for the climbers
01:59to show their wares.
02:00Antomarche Lotto, among them, the two World Tour teams.
02:05Uskatel Uskadi with a team full of climbing talent and the King of the Mountains himself.
02:10As well as Malicelli in the green jersey and Rajevic knowing that he was facing a very, very tall order
02:18to defend the race lead.
02:19On another day of sweltering temperatures in the Tour of Hainan.
02:24The countdown off and the neutralised rollout beginning on this long testing stage into the mountains of Hainan.
02:32214.1 kilometres then and those three Cat 1 climbs sure to shape the outcome of the general classification potentially
02:40for good in this edition of the race.
02:49Into the mountains then, 66 kilometres to go.
02:52This was a scene on the first of the categorised climbs with a big attack coming from the King of
02:57the Mountains.
02:58One of four riders in the early break of the day, Igor Shazan.
03:01Followed though by the young Chinese rider Yongbin Gao of the Phoenix Escom Hengshan team.
03:07And Gao coming round Shazan to take the maximum points at the first Category 1 climb.
03:13And come to within just one point of the King of the Mountains lead.
03:16Meanwhile, on the second Cat 1 climb of the day, XDS Astana starting to apply the pressure.
03:22And Dusan Rajevic falling away along with the other sprinters falling out of contention.
03:27Not the only one though to feel the power of XDS Astana.
03:31Stefan de Scrutiner as well falling victim to the pace being set by the team in blue, XDS Astana.
03:38And then towards the top of the penultimate climb, it's another big attack from Igor Shazan in the Polkadot jersey.
03:44This time though, the young Chinese rider Yongbin Gao.
03:47I'm able to go with him and I'm able to come past him.
03:50And instead, Nils Sinczek in the orange of Li Nyang comes round him and into second place.
03:56And off in pursuit of the man from Quick Pro Cycling in the Polkadot jersey.
04:01Towards the top of the climb though, one little check to make sure that he's okay.
04:05And Shazan adds nine points to his lead in the King of the Mountains competition.
04:09Whatever happens, assuming he finishes, he will be starting the next day in the King of the Mountains jersey.
04:15Those two riders then getting together at the head of the race with a one minute and 30 second advantage.
04:20XDS Astana setting the pace behind, trying to make the race hard and sweeping up the remains of the breakaway.
04:27Guillermo Silva and Nikola Vinokorov, the two GC hopes for XDS Astana.
04:32Nils Sinczek building his lead on the descent.
04:36And Matteo Malicelli, the sprinter, in the green jersey for XDS Astana, doing a job on the flat on the
04:42approach to the final climb to bring the remaining breakaway riders back.
04:47Igor Shazan, his job done, drops back to the peloton, leaving Sinczek in a hunt for the competitivity award.
04:54But not much more than that, although he builds his advantage up to one minute and 30 seconds.
04:58Then a counter-attack coming from Bardiani CSF.
05:01It's Manuele Tarozzi trying to bridge a one minute 30 gap and get across to the front of the race
05:07and join Sinczek in a two-up attack.
05:10Looking round, though, a tall order.
05:12And Tarozzi stuck in the middle between the two groups.
05:18Manuele, Matteo Malicelli then done his job for the day as they hit the final climb of the day, an
05:23eight-kilometre effort at a steady gradient of 5%.
05:27Kaharudal then taking it up.
05:29They bring back Tarozzi and then there's just one rider at the front of the race.
05:33And it's the Dutchman from Lienang team, Niels Sinczek.
05:37Halfway up the climb, though, he is caught.
05:40And it's still Kaharudal who are doing the riding on the front.
05:44As the climb unwinds towards the top, the bunch reduced to no more than about 35 riders.
05:51Pressure at the back as Luke Mudgeway struggles to remain in contention.
05:55And then an attack from MBH bank Alessandro Fanuccello.
05:58And he's followed by another Italian, Thomas Pezzenti of the Polti Visit Malta team.
06:02Those two riders with a small advantage over a chase group that's scrambling to get on their wheels.
06:08Five riders then get together, including the lead duo of XDS Astana over the top of the climb.
06:15But it's on the descent that Fanuccello and the Uruguayan Guillermo Silva start to really stretch things out.
06:22But three or four riders trying to get across.
06:25And there's a chase group of some 15 riders still in the hunt as the groups ebb and flow and
06:31come together.
06:31The race breaking up, fracturing and then regrouping.
06:35And potentially still a big group coming towards the finish line.
06:39And the final couple of straight flat kilometres towards what could be a reduced group sprint of some 15 riders
06:46or so.
06:47Inside the last seven kilometres, a group of around about eight riders at the front of the race.
06:51Three chasing on and the groups coming together again as they hit the banks of the river.
06:56Ouskatel Ouskadi with three riders still very much in the hunt, including Javier Beresagheti, their team leader.
07:03On the banks of the river then, it is an attack that goes off the front from Polti Visit Malta,
07:09followed by the pugnacious French rider from Lotto-Antemarche, Baptiste Feistrofer,
07:15always trying to hunt out the sniff of an opportunity.
07:18And the counter-attack from XDS Astana, who missed that move, heading towards the final kilometre.
07:23Nikola Vinokorov trying to get across to the front of the race and still be in the mix for the
07:28stage win and the potential race lead.
07:31Fanuccello looking around, checking as to where the XDS Astana rider is.
07:36But he's in the folds there.
07:37There's a rider from Terengganu there, still in the mix as well, waiting for his moment to attack.
07:42And then going off the front, no hesitation from Nikola Vinokorov,
07:46who gets onto the wheel of the rider in front of him as they head towards the Flamme Rouge and
07:51inside the final kilometre.
07:52It is an opportunity for Nikola Vinokorov maybe to come off the wheel and take his first ever professional victory
07:59after such a promising start to 2026.
08:02Vinokorov then with 300 metres to go on a finish that is gently uphill and into a headwind has bitten
08:10off an awful lot with a small gap with 150 metres to go though.
08:14It's his teammate Guillermo Silva of Uruguay who sweeps around Vinokorov and holds off all challengers to take the win.
08:22Silva with a victory.
08:24XDS Astana delivering a perfect, perfect display at the line, taking stage two, the Queen stage and the lead of
08:32the Tour of Hainan.
08:33Guillermo Silva, the convincing winner in a chaotic finale.
08:38Silva then on the top step, Beresagheti in second place.
08:43And for Polti Visit Malta, it's Thomas Pezzenti in third.
08:47But look at Lorenzo Cuattucci, good performance from him in fifth place, still very much in the GC hunt.
08:56Yeah, really pleased with the victory, a hard day with all the climbs.
09:03The team controlled everything really well, controlled the breakaway really well to set up the victory.
09:09Everybody was right on the limit, but that was the biggest win of my career.
09:13And the yellow jersey goes with it.
09:15The new leader of the Tour of Hainan 2026.
09:24It was the whole community of the
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