It was a first day marked by speed and intense heat for the riders competing in the Tour of Hainan 2026. From the start, in fact, the high temperatures dominated, making the 177 kilometers scheduled from Haikou to Danzhou more challenging than they might have been. It was at this finish line where Dusan Rajovic ultimately managed to satisfy everyone with a move that no one else could match.

The Serbian rider from Solution Tech NIPPO Rali, already boasting three victories this year, thus celebrated for the second consecutive edition in the short Chinese stage race (last season he had achieved an important victory in the second stage with finish in Lingshui), thus confirming that he finds himself particularly at ease on the often scorching finish lines of this corner of the Asian nation.

"It wasn't such a difficult day, but in the end it was tough because of the heat, especially for me coming from Europe and not being used to it this year" the twenty-eight-year-old from Kraljevo immediately told our microphones in the awards area. "It was the first time we faced such heat and I must say I suffered quite a lot. In the end, however, the team did an excellent job keeping me up front, then in the final hundred meters I opened my sprint on the left side and I'm happy to have managed to impose myself" Rajovic continued, who in the finale was able to count on the contribution of a team entirely devoted to his service for the occasion.

"We all behaved well I would say, from Tilen (Finkst) to Yukiya (Arashiro) who, at his age, continues to do excellent work. We are very motivated and we will try in the coming stages to do our best".

With this cohesion, it is not excluded that the Italian team, which reached seven victories this season today, could achieve new triumphs in the coming days, although, as Rajovic reiterated to us, having checked the box of partial success, the team's focus will now shift to the yellow jersey and the general classification.

"It would be nice if we could get another stage victory here, but I can already say I'm satisfied with what we've achieved. In any case, we hope to be able to achieve something good in the general classification with our men, Fabbro and Umba. From now on it will be more important for us to pursue this objective" pointed out the Serbian sprinter who, meanwhile, can celebrate yet another success in a place, China, that is undoubtedly bringing him considerable joy.

"Every victory is special. I don't know exactly how many but I've certainly won many races in China, a place where everyone is really kind and particularly here. Having achieved this success is also positive for our Chinese sponsors, so we can only be very happy with what we've achieved".

For Rajovic, however, aware of how today's victory is also important for the ever-current issue of UCI points ("We still need to collect many more, we'll see race after race what placement we can achieve"), today's first place is also positive because, in mid-April, it allows him to already have in his pocket a third of the victories achieved in 2025 (23), a track record that is not linked to any upheaval in his training plan but rather to a greater number of opportunities in which he finds himself able to sprint.

"In terms of preparation I haven't changed anything compared to the past, I simply have more opportunities to compete in sprint finishes and I'm really happy about that. The team has given me many opportunities and this can only be positive for me" concluded the Solution Tech rider, ready in the coming days to aim for a possible and notable repeat victory.