Tour of Beijing

Stage 4:  Yan Qing Gui Chuan Square to Shunyi Olympic Rowing/Canoeing Center, 189.5km/118mi

By Cathy Mehl

A day-long Team effort from The Shack helped keep teammate and former US Pro Ben King in the jersey of the Best Young rider in the Tour of Beijing with one stage remaining to race.  King wears the white jersey with a two-second margin over Bart De Clercq of Omega Pharma-Lotto.  It’s the first time for King to wear a leader’s jersey in a world tour race and he's eager to wear it all the way to the end Sunday in Beijing.  RadioShack sponsors were on hand today to congratulate Ben and cheer on the continued good work from Team RadioShack.

It was a one-two punch from Liquigas-Cannondale with the Italian squad taking first and second with riders Elia Viviani and Peter Sagan.  Third place went to Juan Jose Haedo of Saxo Bank.  HTC-Highroad’s Tony Martin continues to hold the race lead after taking the jersey on the opening day.  He holds 17-seconds to David Millar (Garmin-Cervelo) and barring any unforeseen circumstance, should win the inaugural Tour of Beijing. 

Tiago Machado was part of a six man break that stayed away until 10km to go.  “The objective today,” said Portuguese rider Machado, “was to defend the jersey of Ben King.  We knew it would be difficult to have a successful break today but I wanted to try anyway.”  A successful break without one of Ben’s close competitors would have ensured that all available points along the course were gobbled up by others, but with a sprint finish playing out, King made sure to put himself in the front group to maintain his two-second gap. 

Team Director Jose Azevedo was pleased with the efforts of the team, saying, “The guys have looked good all week.  The team has had a positive attitude the entire time we’ve been here.”

Sunday brings the fifth and final stage.  Stage 5 begins in Tian An Men Square and travels 118km to arrive back at the opening starting point of the gorgeous Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium to bring the race to a conclusion.

Top Ten Results

1              Elia Viviani (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale      4:09:08  

2              Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale                                  

3              Juan José Haedo (Arg) Saxo Bank Sungard                             

4              Denis Galimzyanov (Rus) Katusha Team                                 

5              Alexander Porsev (Rus) Katusha Team                    

6              Alexander Kristoff (Nor) BMC Racing Team                           

7              Leigh Howard (Aus) HTC-Highroad                            

8              Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre - ISD                                

9              Enrique Sanz (Spa) Movistar Team                            

10           Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Team Garmin-Cervelo

Team RadioShack Results

30           Benjamin King (USA)

35           Jani Brajkovic (Slo)

45           Nelson Oliveira (Por)

70           Philip Deignan (Irl)

73           Tiago Machado (Por)

75           Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa)

89           Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa)

120         Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz)

General Classification after Stage 4

1              Tony Martin (Ger) HTC-Highroad   11:19:27                

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 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

118         Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) 0:14:44