What's the difference? Ethan Vernon defeats Molano at the finish in Tour of Guangxi and achieves double victory

The leader's jersey had changed shoulders in the second stage. After Lionel Taminiaux (Lotto Dstny) won the first stage, he lost it to Max Kanter in stage two. The German from Astana Qazaqstan finished second in the stage won by Warre Vangheluwe (Soudal Quick-Step) and thus took the lead in the GC. He could prepare for a battle: the third stage to Bama was characterized by a pretty hilly finale. Riders with good qualities on short climbs would seize their chance on Thursday.

A big crash disrupted the opening stage of the race. This involved some 20 names: Among them were leader Kanter, Esteban Chaves (EF Education - EasyPost), Rune Herregodts (Intermarché-Wanty), and Timo Roosen (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL), but they were able to resume their way. Others were not so lucky: Jhonatan Narváez (INEOS Grenadiers), Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla), Vegard Stake Laengen (UAE Team Emirates), and Mikkel Honoré (EF Education - EasyPost) could not continue. That said, Milan Vader also had to drop out. The Dutchman, finishing his last race for Visma | Lease a Bike in China, was the defending champion, but he will not have the opportunity to prolong his title.

The race continued, and of course, that included a breakaway. The day's breakaway was held by someone other than Dries De Bondt. The Belgian of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale was also in the lead on Wednesday, where he secured the mountain jersey. Moreover, within bonification seconds, he was approaching the leader in the GC by one second. He set off together with Dutchman Pepijn Reinderink of Soudal Quick-Step. The leaders got a maximum of about four minutes from the peloton. Once in the final 50 kilometers, that gap had been reduced to two minutes. When it started to get uphill, several riders attempted to ride away. Among others, Oscar Onley (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) and Victor Lafay (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) tried but did not get any space for now.

As a result, an entire peloton continued to organize the chase. The hilly finale had not brought what might have been hoped for. Reinderink had more left than his Belgian breakaway companion and set off on the final slope. He bravely held on on his own, but at six kilometers from the line, he was still caught. As a result, the pack was preparing for a bunch sprint. Leading up to the sprint, Israel Premier-Tech was the best-organized team. This allowed Vernon to win finally, beating Molano by a small margin.