It took one fewer stage compared to last year's edition (when he celebrated in the second fraction) for Dusan Rajovic to score the first success at the Tour of Hainan 2026. The Serbian sprinter from Solution Tech NIPPO Rali, in fact, this time struck at the first opportunity, winning in a sprint at the Danzhou finish line ahead of Matteo Malucelli (XDS Astana) and Daniel Cavia (Burgos Burpellet BH).

This success, the twenty-second of his professional career, allowed the twenty-eight-year-old from Kraljevo to also claim the first yellow jersey as race leader.

THE RACE

The stage started right away at a rather brisk pace with several riders attempting to break away from the peloton from the very beginning. After an initial unsuccessful attack by Adne van Engelen (Terengganu Cycling Team), it was Lorenzo Quartucci (Burgos Burpellet BH), Igor Chzhan (Quick Pro Team), Matthias Bregnøj (Terengganu Cycling Team) and Cyrus Monk (FNIX - SCOM - Hengxiang Cycling Team) who managed more concretely to escape, quickly building a lead of more than three minutes over the peloton.

This advantage allowed the breakaway riders to contest the day's only categorized climb (1st Chzhan) and the two intermediate sprints with time bonuses (won one by Quartucci and one by Chzhan) before the work of XDS Astana and Lotto Intermarchè brought the escapees back into view of the main group. It was at this point that Monk decided to push on and extend his adventure for a few more kilometers before being brought back into the fold for the first time.

However, the regrouping did not calm spirits as, shortly after, Timofei Ivanov (Wheeltop Rotor Chengdu Team), Lucas Dauge (Team Novo Nordisk) and an indomitable Monk attacked again. The three, however, managed to build only slightly more than a minute and, skillfully controlled from a distance, were caught at the 25 km mark by a peloton that, having also neutralized Euskaltel's collective attempt to create a split, arrived compact to contest the victory and the first yellow jersey in a sprint.

Here, after the scare from two crashes in the final 3000 meters, it was Rajovic who prevailed over Malucelli and Cavia, taking advantage of both the excellent work of his teammates in the preparatory phase and the strong favorable wind on the final straightaway: for him that makes four victories this season and six at the professional level in China, a country whose roads continue to be particularly favored hunting grounds for him.

FINAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Dusan Rajovic (SRB/Solution Tech NIPPO Rali)

2. Matteo Malucelli (ITA/XDS Astana) s.t.

3. Daniel Cavia (SPA/Burgos Burpellet BH) s.t.

Updates to follow