Roche and Deignan untroubled on Tour of Beijing's longest stage

Posted 08 October 2011

Nicolas Roche and Philip Deignan had an untroubled day as they retained their GC positions on the longest stage of the Tour of Beijing which came down to bunch sprint won by Liquigas-Cannondale rider Elia Viviani.

Viviani took the win ahead of teammate Peter Sagan while Juan Jose Haedo (Saxo Bank) was third.

Roche came home 70th to hold his 11th place in the overall GC where he lies just 48 seconds behind Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad).

Deignan followed in 87th position to hold onto his 31st place in the GC with a deficit on 1’08”.

Roche’s AG2R La Monidale team and Deignan’s Radioshack team both placed riders in the six-man breakaway which dominated the stage.

The escape group comprising Damiano Cunego (Lampre ISD), Lijo Keisse (Quickstep), Tiago Machado (Radioshack), Julien Bernard (AG2R La Mondiale), Frederik Veuchelen (Vacansoleil) and Chinese national team rider Meiyin Wang were caught with 10 kilometres to go.

The Liquigas-Cannondale team timed their move perfectly seeing off the challenge from Team Sky and Katusha to record a one-two stage win.
 
Race leader Martin had an easy day and is poised to win the first edition of the race when it concludes tomorrow with a short 118 kilometre stage from Tian An Men Square to the Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium.

The flat stage starts with a short ride to a 7.5 kilometre long circuit which the riders will complete twelve times.

Martin takes a 17 seconds lead over Garmin Cervelo’s David Millar into the stage with Team Sky’s Chris Froome third just nine seconds further back.

Results:

Tour of Beijing

Stage 4: Yan Qing Gui Chuan Square – Shunyi Olympic Rowing/Canoeing Centre, 189kms

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

70. Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale – same time
87. Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Radioshack – same time

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

11. Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale at 48 seconds
31. Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Radioshack at 1 minute, 08 seconds

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