Nobody, looking at both the profile of the stage on the eve and how it unfolded during the race, would have expected that at Lingshui, the finish line of the third stage of the Tour of Hainan 2026, a lone rider would triumph. Andreas Miltiadis, however, managed the feat by defying all predictions and forecasts from the hours before with a move worthy of a finisher, born from the courage that the Cypriot national champion has demonstrated in abundance, but also from his ability to lucidly interpret the final stages of the race.

"It was a difficult stage, I didn't believe we would arrive in this way to fight for it, but seeing how the situation was evolving during the race, I knew I could manage to overcome the various climbs and that's what happened" said the Quick Pro Team rider to our microphones after the finish.

"In the final, after catching my breath a bit, I saw that I was quite fresh, everyone started attacking but they weren't going anywhere: at a certain point, I understood it was the right moment to attack and try to gain some advantage because I didn't know if they would work together behind me or not, so I went for it" Miltiadis continued, also helped in the final kilometers by the fact that he knew the roads on which today's stage was set.

"I knew this stage because I did it two years ago and that time too we arrived in a reduced group. Today, after seeing how we were doing at the beginning of the stage, I had understood that it could happen and in the end that's what happened" revealed the 1996-born rider from Palaichori Oreinis, a rider accustomed to delivering great performances in high temperatures like those the riders are finding these days in Hainan.

"In summer in Cyprus it's very hot even though it's not as humid, but perhaps it's in my DNA to be able to perform in the heat, although to be honest I prefer cooler temperatures".

What matters for Miltiadis, however, is that at 29, his twentieth career victory has arrived, as well as the first, at the professional level, outside the borders of Cyprus, a result that is also the fruit of another exploit, equally victorious, accomplished three years ago.

"In 2023 I won a stage at the Tour of Rhodes and I had managed it in exactly this way so I knew today I could arrive alone: I tried and it went well" admitted Miltiadis before recounting how today's result is the direct consequence of the work done in recent years to regain at all costs a competitiveness that risked being lost forever.

"In the last two years I had some physical problems and I know well that after 23 years it would have been difficult to return to a certain level, but I trained hard, I always tried to do my best and in the end I made it. This year, supported moreover by good equipment, I manage to give my best and today everything led me to win" explained the Cypriot rider who did not want to commit himself on the possibility that this achievement could lead him to make a further leap soon.

"At the moment I'm with a Quick Pro Team rider and I race with them. I will certainly try to do my best and then we'll see if something happens".

Quick Pro, therefore, will continue for the moment to be the home of a young man who, in the Estonian team, has found the perfect environment to live a professional season.

"The atmosphere in the team is fantastic and I'm happy to give my best either for myself or for my teammates as I did today by trying to help Igor (Chzhan, ed.) as much as possible to earn points valid for the mountain classification. I think he gained some to extend his lead. It's something I like, working for others, but if I have the chance to win I try to take it" Miltiadis recounted before saying goodbye and dedicating his victory to the members of his own family.

"In difficult moments as well as in good ones they have always been there. They are the only ones who, in one way or another, I will always be able to have by my side. It can happen to change teams and change teammates, but family doesn't change, it's always there ready to support you".