The first historic edition of the Bajaj Pune Grand Tour closes under the banner of an overwhelming Li Ning Star. As in the previous three days, the final stage (the short Pune-Pimpri-Chinchwad of 95 kilometers) saw a rider from the Chinese Continental team celebrate victory, a team that certainly did not lack concreteness during the short Indian stage race.

Today, specifically, it was Aliaksei Shnyrko who raised his arms to the sky and, in a sprint, delivered the fourth consecutive success to Zhe Sun's team, which, as proof of the memorable week experienced near Pune, also celebrated the overall victory of Luke Mudgway.

THE RACE REPORT

The mere 95 kilometers on the program ensure that the stage is lively from the start. After passing the first intermediate sprint, won by Dylan Hopkins, the first significant attack comes from the 10th overall Zeb Kyffin (Terengganu Cycling Team) who remains solo at the front for almost 25 kilometers before giving up. His attempt, however, earns him three bonus seconds at the second intermediate sprint after which, following a very brief calm period, attacks resume without interruption.

In the subsequent thirty kilometers, many persistently try to break away in more or less restricted groups, but to see a group successfully detach and obtain a significant margin, we must wait until 25 kilometers from the finish when Saniy Syahmi Mohd Safiee (Malaysia Pro Cycling), Witthawat Waree (Grant Thornton Cycling Team), Jaebin Yin (Roojai Insurance Winspace), Ismael Jr. Grospe (Victoria Sports Pro Cycling), the prologue winner Fergus Browning (Terengganu Cycling Team) and Killian Larpe (Team France Défense) put more than 30 seconds between themselves and the peloton.

The peloton, after passing the third intermediate sprint, begins to work to close the gap on the attackers, who are all reabsorbed at -9 km except for Browning, who, leveraging his time trial skills, launches a courageous solo attack. The 22-year-old Australian, thanks to a truly powerful and effective pedaling, reaches -3 km with just under ten seconds to defend, but at this point, with the finish line in sight, the sprinters' teams accelerate significantly, extinguishing the glory dreams of the former Hagens rider two kilometers from the finish.

The drama is not over because, in the last kilometer, a tight "U" turn taken at high speed causes a major crash that splits the group in two and considerably reduces the number of contenders for the stage victory. This unexpected event further plays into the hands of Li Ning Star, which, with more space and ease, sets up the sprint to achieve the Shnyrko-Scott one-two, scoring a phenomenal consecutive four-stage win.

The white and red triumph is completed by the first place in the team classification, the victory in the points classification, and, above all, the conquest of the yellow jersey by Luke Mudgway, who, climbing on the podium alongside Carter Bettles (Roojai Insurance Winspace) and Belgian Yorben Lauryssen (Tartelletto-Isorex), collects his first-ever victory in the general classification of a stage race (the eighth overall in his elite career), offering his team another reason to celebrate a phenomenal start to the season.

The same cannot be said for Burgos Burpellet BH, which, as the only professional team at the start, failed to obtain either a stage victory, a spot on the final podium, or many UCI points (one of the main objectives of the Spanish team), concluding "only" with two stage podiums (both with Georgios Bouglas), the polka dot jersey for best climber Clement Alleno, and the best Asian rider jersey for Jambaljamts Sainbayar: for the riders in purple, as Mudgway lucidly explained, the difference in condition with riders from Oceania might have weighed heavily, who, taking advantage of the preparation done in recent weeks in the warmth of their latitudes, generally demonstrated a superior pedaling stroke compared to the rest of the competition.

STAGE RESULT

1st Aleksei Shnyrko (BIE/Li Ning Star) 1:56:54

2nd Cameron Scott (AUS/Li Ning Star) s.t.

3rd Dylan Hopkins (AUS/Roojai Insurance Winspace) s.t.

4th Kane Richards (AUS/Roojai Insurance Winspace) s.t.

5th Juan Pedro Lozano (SPA/Terengganu Cycling Team) s.t.

6th Merhawi Kudus (ERI/Burgos Burpellet BH) s.t.

7th Gerard Mora (AND/ProCyclingStats.com) s.t.

8th Wan Abdul Rahman Hamdan (MAL/Terengganu Cycling Team) s.t.

9th Tom Wijfje (OLA/Universe Cycling Team) s.t.

10th Brayden Bloch (AUS/Rauland Development Team) s.t.

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1st Luke Mudgway (NZL/Li Ning Star) 9:33:04

2nd Carter Bettles (AUS/Roojai Insurance Winspace) +14"

3rd Yorben Lauryssen (BEL/Tartelletto-Isorex) +17"

4th Nils Sinschek (OLA/Li Ning Star) +33"

5th Clement Alleno (FRA/Burgos Burpellet BH) +46"

6th Jambaljamts Sainbayar (MON/Burgos Burpellet BH) +49"

7th Merhawi Kudus (ERI/Burgos Burpellet BH) +1'22"

8th Cristian Raileanu (MOL/Li Ning Star) +1'34"

9th Juan Pedro Lozano (SPA/Terengganu Cycling Team) +2'03"

10th Zeb Kyffin (UK/Terengganu Cycling Team) +2'24"

OTHER CLASSIFICATIONS

Points Classification: Luke Mudgway (NZL/Li Ning Star)

Mountain Classification: Clement Alleno (FRA/Burgos Burpellet BH)

Young Rider Classification: Viego Tijssen (OLA/ Wielerploeg Groot Amsterdam)

Team Classification: Li Ning Star (CHN)

Best Asian Rider: Jambaljamts Sainbayar (MON/Burgos Burpellet BH)

Photo credit: Bajaj Pune Grand Tour