Gaviria claims first two stages of the WorldTour’s final race
Tour of Guangxi successes underscore Colombian's sprinting prowess
Colombian sprinting sensation Fernando Gaviria (Quick Step) took his second consecutive stage of the Tour of Guangxi in China on Friday. The six-day stage race wraps up the 2017 WorldTour season.
Supersonic @FndoGaviria makes it two in a row at the #TourofGuangxi! #WayToRide Photo: @TDWsport pic.twitter.com/QpYXJ06aqG
— Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) October 20, 2017
With Marcel Kittel off to Katusha next year and Matteo Trentin setting sail for Orica-Scott, Gaviria becomes Quick Step’s main sprinter, although new signing Elia Viviani gives the Belgium-based squad another sharp weapon.
Gaviria has enjoyed his most successful campaign in 2017 with 12 triumphs, including seven WorldTour wins. Four of those WT victories came at the Giro d’Italia, where he wore the final purple points jersey.
From Colombia, the fastest man of the #Giro100 is @FndoGaviria! 4 Stage winner and leader of the Points Classification
@quickstepteam pic.twitter.com/kPHn1wwKgl— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 28, 2017
The 23-year-old first came to prominence in 2015 when he beat Etixx-Quick Step’s Mark Cavendish twice at the Tour de San Luis. By September he was in Quick Step colours winning Stage 4 of the Tour of Britain by edging out Andre Greipel.
In China Gaviria beat Dutchman Dylan Groenewagen, winner of this season’s Tour de France Champs Elysees stage, on day one before defeating Max Walscheid of Sunweb Friday. The Tour of Guangxi is a race of two halves: the sprint fun continues Saturday, but Sunday’s queen stage finish on a 3.3-km climb of 6.2% marks a change in the route. The final two stages have long, medium-pitch climbs that peak about 35-km from the finish line. For overall victory, Gaviria’s teammate Julian Alaphilippe is a favourite, along with Dutchmen Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) and Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb).
It’s the Tour of Guangxi’s first year in the WorldTour calendar. The Tour of Beijing capped off the WorldTour from 2012 to 2014 after first being introduced in 2011. It’s no longer a race. A Tour of Hangzhou was supposed to be in the 2012 WorldTour but was then postponed until 2013 before being abandoned altogether.
