XDS Astana had a good day at the Tour of Hainan 2026. The Kazakh team, which finished second yesterday with Malucelli, claimed the most demanding stage of the short Chinese stage race thanks to Guillermo Silva who, in a sprint, outpaced the select group of riders who came to contest the partial victory after the climb of Atuoling.

Behind him, the day's podium was completed by Xabier Berasategi (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Thomas Pesenti (Polti VisitMalta), but in the top ten there were also Italian riders Lorenzo Quartucci (Burgos Burpellet BH), Alessio Martinelli (Bardiani CSF 7 Saber), Alessandro Fancellu (MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort) and Filippo Turconi (Bardiani CSF 7 Saber) who, all together, gave a strong Italian character to the finishing order.

It is the white and light blue of the Uruguayan flag that stands out at the top of the general classification since, thanks to today's victory, Silva has jumped to the head of the standings ahead of Berasategi and Quartucci.

THE RACE

With Nicolò Buratti (MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort) not starting, in the early kilometers the stage sees Nils Sinschek (Li Ning Star) immediately very active who, launching repeated attacks, eventually manages to force the formation of the day's breakaway. In addition to him, it consists of Yongbing Gao (FNIX - SCOM - Hengxiang Cycling Team), Ethan Batt (Wheeltop Rotor Chengdu Team) and the polka dot jersey Igor Chzhan (Quick Pro Team) who, collaborating with the Dutch former Parkhotel rider, quickly build their advantage beyond three minutes.

Proceeding at a good pace, the gap widens to the point of exceeding six minutes and thus allows the quartet to pass without difficulty at the first intermediate sprint at Chamiao Market (1st Sinschek), at the 1st category climb at Jiujia (1st Gao ahead of Chzhan and Sinschek), at the intermediate sprint at Baisha County Library (1st Batt) and at the 3rd category mountain (1st Gao).

The peloton meanwhile, by virtue of the still substantial margin of the escapees, increases the pace and this leads it to attack the Yinggeling climb with just over 4 minutes of disadvantage. On the climb, while Cristian Bagatin (MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort) launches a solo sortie, the peloton is pulled by the XDS Astana men who, at a rather sustained pace, claim many victims including the yellow jersey Dusan Rajovic. At the top, the Quick Pro Team rider (first at the summit) and Sinschek have only 20" on the chasing trio and 1'25" on the peloton, chronometric figures that lead the Li Ning Star rider to continue his solo action on the descent.

Aided by a moment of slowdown in the peloton (in which Batt, Bagatin and Gao are brought back into the fold), he resumes gaining time up to 1'40", an advantage that prompts XDS Astana to resume pulling hard. With still 1'30" to close, 30 km from the finish, Manuele Tarozzi (Bardiani CSF 7 Saber) launches solo in pursuit of Sinschek but, after remaining in the breakaway for less than ten kilometers, is caught. The same fate befalls the courageous Sinschek on the first slopes of Atuoling where it is Caja Rural that takes on the pace-setting and lines up the peloton. Breaking the Spanish team's rhythm is the vehement attack by Alessandro Fancellu (MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort) who splits the group bringing with him Xabier Berasategi (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Nicolas Vikokourov (XDS Astana), Thomas Pesenti (Polti VisitMalta) and Guillermo Silva (XDS Astana).

It is precisely with the latter that the MBH rider attempts to extend on the descent, taking a ten-meter advantage at the summit that is however easily closed by their first pursuers and, subsequently, also by the remaining part of the peloton which thus regroups at the entrance to Wuzhishan. At this point, with the finish line ever closer, a series of attacks and counterattacks (all unsuccessful) serve as a prelude to the sprint with reduced numbers that sees Silva obtain first place on the final straightaway ahead of Berasategi and Pesenti which, in addition to his first victory since last July, also earns him the new yellow jersey as leader of the general classification.

PESENTI'S WORDS

Third at the finish and fourth overall, the Polti VisitMalta rider commented as follows, after the finish line, on what happened in the queen stage of this edition of the Tour of Hainan: "The stage started calmly because everyone knew it would be decided in the finale. In the last kilometers of the final climb we were four or five, then Silva attacked in the last 300 meters taking some margin with Fancellu. We caught back up and the same happened with the peloton shortly after. We from Polti found ourselves in four so we tried to insert ourselves in the attacks and counterattacks that happened before the sprint where we ended up finishing 3rd and 4th. My third place is useful because it's worth 4" of time bonus and, knowing that the race is played a lot on this component, having this margin is not insignificant. However, there are still three stages left: one will still be important for the classification even though we'll arrive on a short climb but 2-3 seconds can be gained, the others it's all to be seen what will happen. The fact that Astana has the jersey is perhaps an advantage for the race because it's surely the team best suited to control it. My condition? The start of the season was complicated, I struggled a bit, but I knew that if I continued training, the results would come and indeed, after Milan-Turin and Coppi&Bartali, I've been improving so let's see if we can do well here in Hainan and then, following that, at other appointments".

FINISHING ORDER

1. Guillermo Thomas Silva (URU/XDS Astana) - 5:18:05

2. Xabier Berasategi (SPA/Euskaltel-Euskadi) - s.t.

3. Thomas Pesenti (ITA/Polti VisitMalta) - s.t.

4. Diego Pablo Sevilla (SPA/Polti VisitMalta) - s.t.

5. Lorenzo Quartucci (ITA/Burgos Burpellet BH) - s.t.

6. Baptiste Veistroffer (FRA/Lotto-Intermarché) - s.t.

7. Alessio Martinelli (ITA/Bardiani CSF 7Saber) - s.t.

8. Alessandro Fancellu (ITA/MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort) - s.t.

9. Filippo Turconi (ITA/Bardiani-CSF-7Saber) - s.t.

10. David Delgado (SPA/Quick Pro Team) - s.t.

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Guillermo Thomas Silva (URY/XDS Astana) - 9:20:59

2. Xabier Berasategi (SPA/Euskaltel-Euskadi) at 0:04

3. Lorenzo Quartucci (ITA/Burgos Burpellet BH) at 0:05

4. Thomas Pesenti (ITA/Polti VisitMalta) at 0:06

OTHER CLASSIFICATIONS

Points Classification: Xabier Berasategi (ESP/Euskaltel-Euskadi)

Mountain Classification: Igor Chzhan (KAZ/Quick Pro)

Updating.