Eritrea's Mulueberhan, XDS Astana win Tour of Magnificent Qinghai

HAIYAN, China, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Eritrean rider Henok Mulueberhan and his team XDS Astana claimed individual and team titles at the Tour of Magnificent Qinghai, which concluded here on Sunday after the 8th stage.

Mulueberhan, 25, who had won the general individual classification in the 2023 edition, retook the title with a total time of 30 hours, 5 minutes and 13 seconds covering 1,400 kilometers.

Uruguay's national champion Guillermo Thomas Silva, 23, who had previously kept the Yellow Jersey from Stage 2 to Stage 6, came across a mechanical breakdown in Saturday's penultimate stage, conceding the jersey to Mulueberhan but finishing only one second behind.

Sunday's final stage witnessed a tight duel between Mulueberhan and Silva, with the Eritrean ultimately increasing his lead from one second to two seconds to claim the overall title. Mulueberhan's teammate Harold Martin Lopez placed third in 30:05:35.

Mulueberhan also scooped the Green Jersey as the event's top sprinter with 77 points, followed by Silva with 67 points.

XDS Astana, the only UCI WorldTeam in this year's race, topped the team general classification, followed by the Spanish pair of Equipo Kern Pharma and Euskaltel-Euskadi.

"We came here for win and we did it," said Mulueberhan, adding that he had been eyeing the Yellow Jersey from the event's very beginning.

"With a good teamwork, I got it and we will celebrate tonight," he said.

27-year-old Spaniard Jon Agirre of Euskaltel-Euskadi beat Switzerland's Simon Pellaud of Li-Ning Star to take the Polka Dot Jersey as the event's top climber with 33 points. Pellaud had maintained his grip on the jersey from Stage 2 to Stage 6 but conceded it to Agirre in Stage 7.

The Blue Jersey for best Asian rider went to Iran's Saeid Safarzadeh of Tianyoude Hotel Cycling, who had held the jersey since Stage 2. His teammate Hasan Seyfollahifard, also from Iran, had previously worn the jersey after Stage 1, underlining Tianyoude's dominance among Asian teams.

The winner of Stage 8 was 27-year-old Danish rider Alexander Salby of Li-Ning Star, who completed the 121.3-km circuit race around Tongbaoshan near Haiyan in 2:24:57.

Salby, who had won Stage 3, said, "I feel very happy to have two stage wins in a week. And our team did a very good job in this race."

Formerly known as the Tour of Qinghai Lake, the event was rebranded in 2025 as the Tour of Magnificent Qinghai. First held in 2002, the high-altitude race is recognized as one of Asia's premier road cycling events, known for its punishing terrain and average elevation of 3,000 meters.