July 18, 2005 – The following are the first four stages of the Tour of Qinghai Lake, in China.

Stage 1: As it begins its forth year, tour of Qinghai Lake in the Qinghai province of eastern China has become one of the most important events on the UCI Asian calendar. The nine day event is ranked as a 2.HC, and boasts a truly international field with riders and teams from the four corners of the globe. The Navigators Insurance team competes for the second time, and after a successful first campaign, is looking forward to the unique challenges this event has made its trademark. The race’s primary obstacle is its severe altitude and monstrous climbs. With the topography ranging from 2000 meters to 3,800 meters, it is one of the most extreme races on the UCI schedule. The event has attracted such significant interest, that this year, UCI president Hein Verbruggen has planned a visit to the event.

The first stage traditionally opens with a circuit race in downtown Xining. It has been a stage for the sprinters, and an amazing crowd pleaser, with the spectator pool of nearly 1 million fans lining the 8 km course. This year, the stage added a twist by starting 30 km outside town in Huangzhong, and descending into the city on the beautiful Xining-Taer Expressway before entering the circuit, which would be repeated 8 times. Apparently the long descent opened the riders’ legs and enthusiasm because no sooner had the field hit the city laps, and a serious break formed. With repeated attacks and counter attacks, a group of 16 riders went clear including Jeff Louder and Chris Baldwin of the Navigators squad. Several pre race favorites including Tour of Langkawi champ Ryan Cox were not represented, and the break sped up the road. By the 5th lap, the lead group had split into three pieces with Baldwin in the front group and Louder in the second. With here riders from the Italian Naturino team doing everything they could to not do any work, the two lead groups did a bit of reshuffling until Vladislav Borisov of the Russian Dynamo jumped away with Assan Bazayev of Kazakhstan, and Piotr Wadecki of Intel Action. The three held off the chase to finish in that order,:46 seconds in front of the chase which was led n by Wadecki’s brother Adam in front of Louder. With several individual riders in between, the field finished 1:53 back. What should have been a non-consequential stage had already shook up the GC, signaled the strength of this years tour.

Stage 1:
1. Vladislav Borisov (Dynamo)
2. Assan Bazayev (Capec)
3. Peter Wadecki (Intel Action)

Overall GC:
1. Vladislav Borisov (Dynamo)
2. Assan Bazayev (Capec)
3. Peter Wadecki (Intel Action)

Stage 2: 145.5 km Xining-Qinghai Lake Hotel

Today’s second stage of the fourth Tour of Qinghai Lake looked to be a relatively simple stage with limited effect on GC. But the game at altitude can always be tricky, and the field was anxious to shake things up again today. After a relatively flat exit of the city of Xining, the course turned upwards with a 65 km ascent to the race’s first KOM followed by a sort descent, and a flat 65 km run to the finish at the Qinghai lake resort. The attacks started from the gun, and one group after another was brought back to the fold until the road steepened a bit around the 40km mark. A small group went away, and was followed by a chase group instigated by the wily veteran Mike Carter. The Navigators Cesar Grajales played a hunch and jumped across. After such an aggressive start, the field was content to settle in, knowing the long climb would ware on the leaders, and there were still over 100 km to go. But Grajales had other ideas especially since Cox and the other climbing favorites were not present. Grajales set a blistering pace with Carter glued to his wheel, and occasionally lending a hand. As the leaders approached 5 km to the KOM, Grajales’ pace was wilting the lead group as several faded off the pace. An attack by Capec’s Baigudinov captured the KOM, as Grajales and Giant’s Ahad dropped the rest of the bunch. With 65 km remaining, the three leaders waited, and Naturino’s Filippo Simeoni brought the remains of the break back to the lead trio.

The nine leaders raced down the short descent, and quickly rolled into a smooth pace line. Their cooperative effort gained a nearly 6 minute advantage on the chasing field, which was whittled to about 30 riders on the climb. The leaders kept a strong pace, with Grajales and Carter showing the most interest since most of the pre-race climbing favorites had been left behind. Simeoni attacked with three km to go, and soloed in 6 seconds in front of his teammate Murilo Fischer, as Lamonta’s Stefen Cohnen grabbed the third spot on the podium. The field would finish 5:16 back, creating a tremendous advantage Grajales and his breakaway companions.

Stage 2:
1. Simeoni (Naturino)
2. Fischer (Naturino)
3. Cohnen (Lamonta)


Overall GC:
1. Askari (Giant)
2. Mares (ZVVZ) @:01
3. Baigudinov (Capec) @ :53


Stage 3: 121 km Qinghai Lake Hotel-Bird Island

After two extremely aggressive opening stages, surely the gently rolling terrain of the Tour of Qinghai Lake’s 3rd stage would settle things down a bit before the big climbing stages start mid week. Well, a strong tail wind at the start changed that dynamic, and the field sped out of the Qinghai lake resort at 60 km /hr. Numerous attacks were negated by the high speed of the peloton until the group approached a right turn, and a change in the wind. Sensing the effects of the impending cross tailwind action, the Navigators and Naturino teams sent their squads to the front. As the pack made the right turn, the lead teams smashed it to the gutter, and the field immediately split into five echelons. The lead group was an elite core containing the Navigators three GC threats, Grajales, Baldwin, and Louder, four Naturino riders and three for Barloworld, including Cox. Missing from the group were the race leader, Carter, and Simeoni, along with several other GC contenders. The lead group was fully committed except the Naturino crew who have been reluctant to contribute to any break efforts all week, and who were missing Simeoni. With 17 riders in the lead group, the chase behind was being driven by the Marco Polo and Giant Asia teams. The gap went out to 1’40”, but the strong chase cut the gap to around 1 minute where it stabilized.

Naturino’s Fischer attacked with 1km to go and soloed for his team’s second stage win in as many days as Intel Actions Lewandowski grabbed second in front of Cox and Louder. The gap to the field was 1’17” at the finish as the GC was shaken again.

Stage 3:
1. Fischer (Naturino)
2. Lewandowski (Intel Action)
3. Ryan Cox (Barloworld)

Overall GC:
1. Mares (ZVVZ)
2. Baigudinov (Capec) @:54
3. Askari (Giant Asia) @1:15

Stage 4: 152.3 km Bird Island- Xihaizhen

The 152 km from modest Tibetan tourist village of Bird Island to Xihaizhen was expected to be a difficult day presenting a good possibility of creating some GC alterations. The town of Xihaizhen was originally created as the base for the People’s Republic of China’s nuclear bomb development, and a major detonation of sorts occurred on the peloton’s journey from Bird Island. The course wrapped itself around the north shore of Qinghai Lake starting at 3200 meters, and reaching a top altitude of 3440 meters before descending to Xihaizhen at 3100 meters. Although there were 3 kom climbs to contest, the day’s real challenge was expected to be the fierce winds that whip across the plateau. The unexpected encumbrance was the sub 50* F temperatures and chilling rain.

The harsh conditions took an almost immediate toll on the peloton as the weaker riders were forced from the gutter back to the cars in less than 10 km. By the 20 km mark the field was in three pieces, with several GC riders in the back group. A turn into the head wind allowed the front two groups to come together by the 50 km mark, but the third group was too far gone, and had no possibility of a return. Fourth placed Mike Carter of the Marco Polo team was caught in the back group, and Giant’s Askari (second on GC) and Kazemisari were in trouble as well. A lightening attack on the cat 2 KOM at 66 km by Giant’s Mizbana Ghader launched the deadly climber, and he instantly built a 40 second lead. Three riders soon joined him including Lamonta’s Stefan Cohnen and Cyclingnews’ Glen Chadwick. The four built a 1-minute advantage, but the 40 riders in the lead group kept the gap safe. As the leaders approached the days second KOM, the field upped the pace and finished the escape. By this point, most riders had lost all tactile capabilities as the freezing rail had many in the peloton wearing double layers of rain jackets and gloves. The field remained intact through the day’s third and final climb, when Lamonta’s Cohnen attacked the descent and forged a small gap. He was followed by Marco Polo’s Rys Pollock, and the two were suddenly 30 seconds clear with just over 20 km to go. Navigators Jeff Louder jumped to bridge, and was soon joined by Capec’s Andrey Mizourov and Piotr Wadecki. The three blasted down the descent in full pursuit, as the field organized behind. The Italian Naturino team that had been hiding all day was now under pressure, and they organized putting 5 riders at the front. Mizourov, Wadecki and Louder presented a powerful trio, and the Italians could not keep from losing ground, but Cohnen and Pollock were also riding incredibly strong, and the chasing trio was having difficulty closing the gap. At 5 km to go, the gap from the two leaders was 20′ to the three chasers, and 1’15” to the Italian led peloton. The downward approach to the finish favored the escapees, and Cohnen crossed the line in front of Pollock 26″ in front of Louder, Mizourov, and Wadecki. Australia’s Sean Finning led the field in at + 1’26”. Jeff Louder’s third placed finish, and his consistent riding thus far puts him in the points jersey after four stages. Navigators Cesar Grajales moved into fifth place @2:46 as the race gets closer to the big mountain stages.

Stage 4:
1. Stefan Cohnen (Lamonta)
2. Rys Pollock (Marco Polo)
3. Jeff Louder (Navigators Insurance)

GC:
1. Mares (ZVVZ)
2. Baigudinov (Capec) @ 54
3. Stefan Cohnen (Lamonta) @ 2:07