October 16, 2013 (Beijing) – Benat Intxausti (Movistar) has been crowned winner of the 2013 Tour of Beijing, finishing safely in the bunch in the final stage where Luka Mezgec (Argos-Shimano) broke through for his first WorldTour victory.

Mezgec, having already claimed a runner-up finish on stage one, out-sprinted Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.fr) and Moreno Hofland (Belkin) for the final stage win alongside Beijing’s iconic Bird’s Nest.

“I’ve been waiting a really long time for this and today I succeeded,” the young Slovenian said following his win. “The first stage I was really close so I knew I could win here. Today it happened.”

Intxausti was untroubled over the final 117km stage, and paid tribute to the team effort which saw the blue train of Movistar drag back the almost-day-long break.

“I’m very happy with my whole season and above all, to put a finishing touch to the team’s season,” the 22-year-old Spaniard said. “It’s a very nice win and it gives me encouragement for next season.

“I said yesterday that this victory was the result of work and good team environment, I thank you for what you have done for me and I congratulate all the people who support me. Now enjoy playing on the podium, the final dinner with colleagues and morning and after the trip, relax and take a vacation.”

Daniel Martin (Garmin Sharp) finished 10 seconds behind on the general classification, with David Lopez (Sky Procycling) a further three seconds in arrears. world champion Rui Costa (Movistar) was fourth overall 18 seconds back.

The race to the Bird’s Nest

The final stage of the third edition of the Tour of Beijing began from the expansive Tian An Men Square in the centre of the Chinese capital under sunny and clear skies. A raft of attacks from the peloton finally allowed a breakaway group consisting of two of the retiring members of the peloton, Juan Antonio Flecha (Vacansoleil-DCM) and Marco Pinotti (BMC), along with Olivier Kaisen (Lotto Belisol), Manuele Boaro (Saxo – Tinkoff) and Christian Meier (Orica GreenEdge) to form the day’s break after 15km of racing.

As the race hit the 12-lap finishing circuit around the Olympic precinct, the breakaway had earned a 42 second advantage, making Pinotti being the new virtual leader by a meager second.

The Italian veteran took honours on the first of three sprints, trailed by Flecha, Meier and Kaisen with the escapees holding an advantage of 1:09 with 10 laps to go.

Pinotti said that it was an emotional day out on the road.

“Today I tried to be in the breakaway,” he admitted at the finish. “We started fast and I thought I couldn’t go and then I saw Flecha and guys going – Boaro made a hard effort to come back and once we had five riders we set up pretty nicely. It was the best way to finish.

“We knew it would be tough to finish in the breakaway, but it was a good day.”

The quintet’s largest gap of the day came with just over five laps remaining, the peloton trailing by 1:43 before steadily being brought back.

Argos-Shimano led the charge over the final three laps, with Cannondale, Omega Pharma-Quick-Step and Movistar also featuring at the front of the chase.

With the writing on the wall, Meier was prepared to go for broke in the final lap, determined to hold on to any small advantage, but the Canadian rider’s efforts were in vain with the break finally caught with four kilometres left to race.

Two-time winner of the Tour of Beijing, Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick-Step) earned a small gap on the peloton before Belkin, Movistar and Lampre-Merida all came to the front of the bunch. In the final kilometre, FDJ.Fr attempted to set up Bouhanni for a third stage victory but it was the Argos-Shimano train which timed its run to perfection.

“The first day was quite good,” explained Mezgec. “But today every single guy did his own job in a perfect way. We ran out of one guy in the finish but Tom Veelers did a really good job with a long lead out, I waited a little bit and started behind Bouhanni and then I passed him.”

In the Classifications, Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.Fr) collected the sprint crown courtesy of his back-to-back stage to and three victories.

Cannondale’s Damiano Caruso won the polka dot prize as King of the Beijing Mountains in 2013.

Frenchman Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) takes home the best young rider prize.

The team classification was taken out by BMC while a strong performance by Movistar to be the second team overall should see them overtake Sky Procycling at the top of the UCI WorldTour rankings for 2013.

And finally, in a new tradition for cycling worldwide, Hayden Roulston (RadioShack Leopard) won the POM (Panda of the Mountain) for the first past the line on Panda Corner on the third stage of the race.

Results

1. Luka Mezgec (Slo) Team Argos-Shimano  2:23:56
2. Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ.fr
3. Moreno Hofland (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
4. Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
5. Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Lampre-Merida
6. Alexey Tsatevich (Rus) Katusha
7. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
8. Rudiger Selig (Ger) Katusha
9. Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) AG2R La Mondiale
10. Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Sky Procycling
11. Kenny Robert van Hummel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
12. Elia Viviani (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
13. Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Lotto Belisol
14. Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
15. Barry Markus (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
16. Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana Pro Team
17. Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Katusha
18. Jens Mouris (Ned) Orica-GreenEdge
19. Jan Polanc (Slo) Lampre-Merida
20. Steele Von Hoff (Aus) Garmin-Sharp
21. Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
22. Jan Bakelants (Bel) RadioShack Leopard
23. Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
24. Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team
25. Robert Gesink (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
26. Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
27. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
28. Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Esp) Movistar Team
29. Jang Chan Jae (Kor) Champion System Pro Cycling Team
30. Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) AG2R La Mondiale
31. Pim Ligthart (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
32. Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Garmin-Sharp
33. Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin-Sharp
34. Nelson Filipe Santos Simoes Oliveira (Por) RadioShack Leopard
35. Jack Bauer (Nzl) Garmin-Sharp
36. Martin Kohler (Sui) BMC Racing Team
37. David Lopez Garcia (Esp) Sky Procycling
38. Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Belisol
39. Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
40. Nikolas Maes (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
41. Maarten Neyens (Bel) Lotto Belisol
42. Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team
43. Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Esp) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
44. Tiziano Dall’Antonia (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
45. Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team
46. Mathias Frank (Sui) BMC Racing Team
47. Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
48. Mikel Landa Meana (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
49. Michel Koch (Ger) Cannondale Pro Cycling
50. Evan Huffman (USA) Astana Pro Team
51. Dominik Nerz (Ger) BMC Racing Team
52. Ivan Basso (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
53. Julien Vermote (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
54. Lawrence Warbasse (USA) BMC Racing Team
55. Cédric Pineau (Fra) FDJ.fr
56. Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
57. Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
58. Marco Pinotti (Ita) BMC Racing Team  0:07
59. José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Esp) Movistar Team  0:09
60. Tom Veelers (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano
61. Mathew Hayman (Aus) Sky Procycling  0:12
62. Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
63. George Bennett (Nzl) RadioShack Leopard
64. Jos Van Emden (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
65. Chris Butler (USA) Champion System Pro Cycling Team
66. Enrique Sanz (Esp) Movistar Team
67. Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol
68. Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha
69. Wouter Mol (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team  0:18
70. Cameron Wurf (Aus) Cannondale Pro Cycling
71. Jesus Herrada Lopez (Esp) Movistar Team
72. Joshua Edmondson (Gbr) Sky Procycling
73. Michal Golas (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
74. Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Esp) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
75. Cameron Meyer (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
76. Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (USA) Sky Procycling
77. Dmitry Kozontchuk (Rus) Katusha
78. Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
79. Matthias Krizek (Aut) Cannondale Pro Cycling
80. Nick Nuyens (Bel) Garmin-Sharp
81. Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha
82. Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
83. Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre-Merida
84. Daniele Ratto (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
85. Matthew Busche (USA) RadioShack Leopard
86. Thomas Peterson (USA) Team Argos-Shimano
87. Ji Cheng (Chn) Team Argos-Shimano
88. Bob Jungels (Lux) RadioShack Leopard
89. Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
90. Petr Ignatenko (Rus) Katusha
91. Danilo Hondo (Ger) RadioShack Leopard
92. Hayden Roulston (Nzl) RadioShack Leopard
93. Matt Brammeier (Irl) Champion System Pro Cycling Team
94. Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
95. Dominique Rollin (Can) FDJ.fr
96. Simone Ponzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team
97. Stephen Cummings (Gbr) BMC Racing Team
98. Arman Kamyshev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
99. Chad Beyer (USA) Champion System Pro Cycling Team
100. Jonas Ahlstrand (Swe) Team Argos-Shimano  0:25
101. Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team  0:40
102. Albert Timmer (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano
103. Jacob Rathe (USA) Garmin-Sharp
104. Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ.fr  0:44
105. Ricardo Garcia Ambroa (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
106. Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
107. Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
108. Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana Pro Team
109. Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team
110. Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (CRc) Movistar Team
111. Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin-Sharp
112. Jiao Pengda (Chn) Champion System Pro Cycling Team
113. Xu Gang (Chn) Champion System Pro Cycling Team
114. Marc Goos (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
115. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
116. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
117. Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team
118. Jay McCarthy (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
119. Massimo Graziato (Ita) Lampre-Merida  0:48
120. Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ.fr
121. Thomas Leezer (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team  1:13
122. Rory Sutherland (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff  1:20
123. Alex Dowsett (Gbr) Movistar Team
124. Andrea Palini (Ita) Lampre-Merida
125. Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Argos-Shimano
126. Luca Wackermann (Ita) Lampre-Merida
127. Sander Cordeel (Bel) Lotto Belisol
128. Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ.fr  1:31
129. Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) FDJ.fr
130. Willem Wauters (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
131. Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Lotto Belisol
132. Xing Yan Dong (Chn) Team Argos-Shimano
133. Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
134. Paul Martens (Ger) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
135. Manuele Boaro (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
136. Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
137. Christian Meier (Can) Orica-GreenEdge  
138. Mitchell Docker (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge  1:39

Final GC

1. Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Esp) Movistar Team  19:35:46
2. Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin-Sharp  0:10
3. David Lopez Garcia (Esp) Sky Procycling  0:13
4. Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team  0:18
5. Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale  0:24
6. Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
7. Jan Bakelants (Bel) RadioShack Leopard  0:26
8. Robert Gesink (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
9. Ivan Basso (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
10. Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi  0:31
11. Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
12. Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) AG2R La Mondiale
13. Mathias Frank (Sui) BMC Racing Team
14. Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team  0:38
15. Jan Polanc (Slo) Lampre-Merida  0:41
16. Dominik Nerz (Ger) BMC Racing Team
17. Marco Pinotti (Ita) BMC Racing Team  0:44
18. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team  0:49
19. Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (USA) Sky Procycling  0:59
20. George Bennett (Nzl) RadioShack Leopard  1:04
21. Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale  1:07
22. Bob Jungels (Lux) RadioShack Leopard  1:10
23. Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Esp) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team  1:11
24. Cédric Pineau (Fra) FDJ.fr  1:16
25. Jesus Herrada Lopez (Esp) Movistar Team  1:34
26. Matthew Busche (USA) RadioShack Leopard
27. Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Esp) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
28. Chris Butler (USA) Champion System Pro Cycling Team  1:47
29. Lawrence Warbasse (USA) BMC Racing Team  1:59
30. Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team  2:07
31. Nelson Filipe Santos Simoes Oliveira (Por) RadioShack Leopard  2:08
32. Evan Huffman (USA) Astana Pro Team
33. Daniele Ratto (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling  2:26
34. Cameron Meyer (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
35. Joshua Edmondson (Gbr) Sky Procycling  2:38
36. Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi  2:43
37. Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Katusha  2:48
38. Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol  3:00
39. Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Argos-Shimano  3:28
40. Petr Ignatenko (Rus) Katusha  3:49
41. Alexey Tsatevich (Rus) Katusha  3:54
42. Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team  3:58
43. Mikel Landa Meana (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
44. Thomas Peterson (USA) Team Argos-Shimano  4:16
45. Pim Ligthart (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team  4:41
46. Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale  4:43
47. Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Belisol  4:47
48. Cameron Wurf (Aus) Cannondale Pro Cycling  4:59
49. Marc Goos (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team  5:24
50. Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (CRc) Movistar Team  5:25
51. Ricardo Garcia Ambroa (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi  6:20
52. Paul Martens (Ger) Belkin Pro Cycling Team  7:07
53. Nick Nuyens (Bel) Garmin-Sharp  7:08
54. Martin Kohler (Sui) BMC Racing Team  9:11
55. Jack Bauer (Nzl) Garmin-Sharp
56. Simone Ponzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team  9:29
57. Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Garmin-Sharp  9:54
58. Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team  9:55
59. Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ.fr  9:59
60. Dmitry Kozontchuk (Rus) Katusha  0:16
61. Michal Golas (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
62. Hayden Roulston (Nzl) RadioShack Leopard  0:10:12
63. Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff  0:10:39
64. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quick Step  0:10:41
65. Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Omega Pharma-Quick Step  0:10:49
66. Mathew Hayman (Aus) Sky Procycling  0:10:53
67. Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge  0:11:21
68. Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) FDJ.fr  0:11:25
69. Ji Cheng (Chn) Team Argos-Shimano  0:11:42
70. Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre-Merida
71. Stephen Cummings (Gbr) BMC Racing Team
72. Albert Timmer (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano  0:12:04
73. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale  0:12:08
74. Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana Pro Team
75. Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team  0:12:15
76. Rory Sutherland (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff  0:12:42
77. Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge  0:13:28
78. Christian Meier (Can) Orica-GreenEdge  0:13:38
79. Steele Von Hoff (Aus) Garmin-Sharp  0:13:59
80. Jang Chan Jae (Kor) Champion System Pro Cycling Team  0:15:06
81. Matt Brammeier (Irl) Champion System Pro Cycling Team  0:15:35
82. Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ.fr  0:16:28
83. Moreno Hofland (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team  0:16:47
84. Nikolas Maes (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step  0:16:50
85. Elia Viviani (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling  0:16:54
86. Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team  0:17:09
87. Luka Mezgec (Slo) Team Argos-Shimano  0:17:21
88. Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Lampre-Merida  0:17:31
89. Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) AG2R La Mondiale  0:17:37
90. Tiziano Dall’Antonia (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
91. Michel Koch (Ger) Cannondale Pro Cycling
92. Jos Van Emden (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team  0:17:49
93. Wouter Mol (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team  0:17:55
94. Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
95. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling  0:18:20
96. Thomas Leezer (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team  0:18:50
97. Mitchell Docker (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge  0:19:12
98. Manuele Boaro (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff  0:19:47
99. José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Esp) Movistar Team  0:19:59
100. Enrique Sanz (Esp) Movistar Team  0:25
101. Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana Pro Team  0:20:16
102. Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff  0:20:45
103. Willem Wauters (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team  0:21:17
104. Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale  0:21:24
105. Dominique Rollin (Can) FDJ.fr  0:22:32
106. Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha
107. Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin-Sharp  0:22:58
108. Jiao Pengda (Chn) Champion System Pro Cycling Team  0:23:24
109. Jens Mouris (Ned) Orica-GreenEdge  0:25:16
110. Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team  0:26:04
111. Sander Cordeel (Bel) Lotto Belisol  0:26:16
112. Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Lotto Belisol  0:27:39
113. Julien Vermote (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step  0:27:45
114. Xu Gang (Chn) Champion System Pro Cycling Team  0:28:29
115. Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ.fr  0:29:44
116. Maarten Neyens (Bel) Lotto Belisol  0:30:20
117. Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ.fr  0:30:31
118. Danilo Hondo (Ger) RadioShack Leopard  0:30:38
119. Arman Kamyshev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
120. Jay McCarthy (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff  0:31:25
121. Kenny Robert van Hummel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team  0:31:27
122. Chad Beyer (USA) Champion System Pro Cycling Team  0:31:40
123. Rudiger Selig (Ger) Katusha  0:33:58
124. Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Lotto Belisol
125. Barry Markus (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
126. Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Sky Procycling
127. Tom Veelers (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano  0:34:07
128. Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha  0:34:10
129. Matthias Krizek (Aut) Cannondale Pro Cycling  0:34:16
130. Jonas Ahlstrand (Swe) Team Argos-Shimano  0:34:23
131. Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi  0:34:42
132. Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Team Saxo-Tinkoff  0:34:50
133. Alex Dowsett (Gbr) Movistar Team  0:35:18
134. Jacob Rathe (USA) Garmin-Sharp  0:35:30
135. Luca Wackermann (Ita) Lampre-Merida  0:36:04
136. Xing Yan Dong (Chn) Team Argos-Shimano  0:36:46
137. Massimo Graziato (Ita) Lampre-Merida  0:36:49
138. Andrea Palini (Ita) Lampre-Merida  0:39:24