FUZHOU, (Xinhua) -- British cyclist Max Stedman from Bike Channel Canyon team hit the finish line first in 2 hours 51 minutes and 37 seconds to claim the win of stage 2 of Tour of Quanzhou Bay on Sunday.

The second stage of total 111.4 kms, known as the queen stage with the longest and hardest uphill ride, set two sprints at the 28.3 km and 83.7 km and three climbs at 48.8 km, 70.3 km and 100 km marks.

Stedman's victory helped him grab the blue jersey to be the leader of general classification from the former holder, his teammate Harry Tanfield.

Team Sembel

Drew Morey from Malaysian Terengganu cycling team followed the second with 2 seconds later. Dawit Yamane from Eritrea Sembel cycling team ranked the third and was honored the polka dot jersey as the best climber.

The best Chinese rider's red jersey went to Lau Wan Yau Vincent of Hong Kong, China. Another teammate of Stedman, Rory Townsend keeps the green jersey as the best sprinter.

"We rode exactly as how we planned. Harry and I ranked the first and second overall yesterday. We're at the upper hand today. Max is the strongest and we're happy with the result," said Rory.

Stedman told Xinhua he believed it would be a smooth go tomorrow. "We got a great team around Rory. We have ideas and it should be OK that we'll keep the jersey till the end."

The last stage of the UCI 2.2 three-day tour, with two sprints at the 38.9km and 62.9km, will start from Nan'an mountain scenic spot to Quanzhou Maritime Silkroad Art Park on Monday, through the total distance of 90.7 kms.

by CyclingTips