Tour of Beijing

Stage 5:  Tian An Men Square to Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium, 118km/73mi

By Cathy Mehl

It was a successful day of defending the white jersey for Team RadioShack with Ben King winning the Best Young Rider classification in the inaugural Tour of Beijing.  King held only two seconds advantage but had the full backing of The Shack to protect his lead, marking the first jersey win for Ben in a world tour event. 

“This is really special for me,” said King after the race.  “It is my first World Tour stage race and it has been an incredible experience to have my teammates taking care of me.   Last year I was just doing my best in US domestic races. I am young and want to improve and having the trust and support of teammates is the best way to learn."  Joining in the celebration was a group of RadioShack sponsors on hand to cheer for the dedicated riders of Team RadioShack, including Lee Applbaum, chief marketing officer for RadioShack Corporation.  Also finishing in the top 25 were Jani Brajkovic and Tiago Machado, with the entire team performing well on Chinese soil.

Lee Applbaum congratulates best young rider Ben King

Tony Martin was crowned the first champion in the Tour of Beijing, leading wire-to-wire after his win in the opening time trial.  Second and third place on the classification followed the time trial placings with David Millar (Garmin-Cervelo) and Christopher Froome (Sky) maintaining their placings throughout the five days of racing.  Today’s sprint was won by Denis Galimzyanov of Katusha.    Juan Jose Haedo (Saxo Bank-SunGard) and Elia Viviani (Liquigas) fininshed second and third in the shadow of Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium.

The Shack line up near Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium

Fans cheering for "RadioShack!"

All the team cars were exactly the same so the team had to make their RadioShack mark

Chinese fans line up along the barriers to yell for Team RadioShack

Top Ten Results

1              Denis Galimzyanov (Rus) Katusha Team    2:19:44  

2              Juan José Haedo (Arg) Saxo Bank Sungard                             

3              Elia Viviani (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale                       

4              Matteo Trentin (Ita) Quickstep Cycling Team                        

5              Davide Appollonio (Ita) Sky Procycling                     

6              Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Quickstep Cycling Team                  

7              Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Team Garmin-Cervelo                    

8              Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Leopard Trek                          

9              Alexander Kristoff (Nor) BMC Racing Team                           

10           Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale

Team RadioShack Results

32           Benjamin King (USA)

37           Jani  Brajkovic (Slo)

44           Nelson Oliveira (Por)

56           Philip Deignan (Irl)

60           Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa)

70           Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa)

73           Tiago Machado (Por)

129         Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) 0:00:17

Final General Classification

1              Tony Martin (Ger) HTC-Highroad      13:39:11                

2              David Millar (GBr) Team Garmin-Cervelo    0:00:17  

3              Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling   0:00:26  

4              Stephen Cummings (GBr) Sky Procycling   0:00:35  

5              Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto     0:00:39  

6              Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team    0:00:41  

7              Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale   0:00:43  

8              Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Pro Team Astana                      

9              Dario Cataldo (Ita) Quickstep Cycling Team                            

10           Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quickstep Cycling Team    0:00:46

Team RadioShack on Final General Classification

12           Benjamin King (USA)  0:00:50     

18           Jani Brajkovic (Slo)  0:00:55         

24           Tiago Machado (Por)   0:00:59    

28           Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa)   0:01:08

31           Philip Deignan (Irl)

53           Nelson Oliveira (Por)  0:03:02     

59           Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa)  0:04:19     

121         Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) 0:15:01