Paul Magnier knows no result other than victory. At the Tour of Guangxi, in fact, the French sprinter has dictated the law in the sprint for the third consecutive time in as many stages, reaffirming that he is currently absolutely unbeatable in fast finishes.

Today, specifically, the Soudal Quick-Step rider overcame Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Max Kanter (XDS-Astana), Stanislaw Aniolkowski (Cofidis), and Daniel Skerl (Bahrain-Victorious) once again in the top five, further increasing not only his number of seasonal victories but also his margin in the general classification.

In the red jersey ranking, the native of Laredo now leads by 20 seconds over Meeus and Kanter themselves, who, despite trying in every way to get close to the extremely strong French sprinter, are seeing themselves increasingly distanced with each passing day.

THE CHRONICLE. After the non-starts of Luca Mozzato (Arkea-B&B Hotels) and Harold Martin Lopez (XDS-Astana), the stage begins explosively with attacks and counter-attacks that immediately raise the average speed. Although many try (including the polka dot jersey Peter Øxenberg, Sylvain Moniquet from Cofidis, Michel Ries from Arkea B&B Hotels, Logan Currie from Lotto, and Tijmen Graat from Team Visma Lease a Bike), initially no one manages to escape, and thus at the first intermediate sprint of the day, Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) takes 3 important bonus seconds for the general classification, sprinting ahead of his teammate Ivo Oliveira and Paul Gautherat (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale). Immediately after, a new series of attacks finally forms the day's breakaway consisting of Ryan Gibbons (Lidl-Trek), Liam Slock (Lotto), Simon Guglielmi (Arkea-B&B Hotels), Li Zhen (China), and initially Ryan Mullen (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), who however, after a few kilometers, allows himself to be reabsorbed by the group. The situation crystallizes, and the quartet at the front proceeds at a good pace (over 50 km/h average after two hours of racing) with a margin oscillating between one and one minute and forty-five seconds, while the news arrives of the withdrawal of Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), who on paper was one of the top favorites for the general classification.

After the sprint in Jiefang (won by Gibbons), Li Zhen loses contact from the head of the race, leaving only three to fuel the breakaway. These riders, with a gap in the meantime increased to 3 minutes, compete for the points at the top of the 2nd category GPM before a violent acceleration by the Picnic Team in the group drastically reduces the disadvantage. Despite the change of pace, the breakaway approaches the second GPM of the day, a point that sees Slock unable to keep up with Guglielmi and Gibbons, who after crossing the top together launches into a complicated solo attempt. With only 50 seconds over a peloton in clear pursuit, the South African's chances seem quite slim, and indeed, with 20 kilometers to go, they close the gap from behind, definitively neutralizing the action.

Back in a compact group, Soudal, Astana, and Picnic take the lead: their work ensures that the pace remains high and, after thwarting yet another attack by Narvaez in the finale, we witness the third sprint in as many days of racing. Here, by making the most of all his horses, Magnier once again scatters the competition, overpowering Meeus and Kanter for his third triumph at Guangxi, which, with this condition and confidence, could seriously not be the last.