MAESTRI WINS STAGE TWO OF TOUR OF CHINA I
Second day of race at Tour of China I and Bardiani-CSF leaves its mark. Mirco Maestri won today the 7 km time trial in Chengde Yongqian, preceding Australian McCormick by 7″ and Russian Ovechkin by 9″. 45 km/h was the average speed, 9’17” the time he covered the distance. Thanks to stage victory, Maestri wears also the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification.
“Winning a time trial gives me a smile, but today it was a something different than a traditional test against the clock,” says Maestri. “It wasn’t a stage for specialists and I knew it could be within my reach. The route was particular, technical and nervous, a continuous up is down where you didn’t get high speed. I studied it well on paper and then tried few times in the morning test. Key factors were curves and the points where I could pusg to keep the speed constant. I took some risks, but it’s part of the job.
“I’m very happy. Already at the Tour of Xingtai I had encouraging signs about the condition and now I’ve had confirmation. Let’s see, day after day, how much I can keep the jersey and if there are other opportunities to be exploited. Obviously, without forgetting to help my teammates in sprints”.
For Bardiani-CSF today’s success it’s the third of the season after the stages won by Guardini at Istrian Spring Trophy and Tour of Qinghai Lake. For Maestri is the third victory as a professional, after the stage and the final classification at the Tour of Rhodes 2018.