Chain's Sprockets-Wilier rider, Fredrik Croneborg takes over the Shanghai Trek Race Series lead from Wilhelmus Neijssen (Specialized) after featuring in a three-man move that went clear in the third lap of the 100km circuit race. Liu Heng (China Trek Racing) took the line honors, outsprinting Shen Jiachen (Gu-Tong Zipp) to win by a half-length. Croneborg, after doing the lion’s share of the work to drive the break, rolls across the line for third.

The peloton rolls by - the author in orange and blue looking comfortable on his new bike

After the race, Croneborg commented: “It was harder getting away today as many people were watching me more, my first time away I had William (Yellow) on my wheel to stop me from getting away. But the second time, it was an attack by Carruthers (CS Racing) which I followed on the right side of the road. However Carruthers then moved all the way over to the left side and William decided to take his wheel rather than mine and I got a good gap with a couple of other riders,” he said. When asked about winning the Yellow, he replied, “It feels good to have it for at least the next race, but it will be hard to defend it and thanks to Chain's Sprockets bike shop for the support.” 

Simon Cui (Specialized) took the bunch kick to claim fourth position ahead of a charging Daniel Carruthers (Champion System) and Cui Yinhao (China Trek Racing).

The battle for the Yellow jersey competition has heated up with the top eight riders all within nine points and Croneburg only having a slim margin of one point over second placed Simon Cui (Specialized). Neijssen is now in a three-way tie with Zhang Yufei (TCR) and Shen Jiachen (Gu-Tong Zipp) on 72 points, ahead of sixth placed Carruthers (Champion System) on 68 points. Specialized has three riders in the top five and looks to be the team to reclaim Yellow in the next stage, provided they take leadership.

In the Sprint Ace classification, Cui Yinhao (China Trek Racing) stays in the Green jersey after winning maximum points in round one of the sprints. Carruthers (Champion System) is inching closer to the lead, coming third in round one and taking maximum points in round two of the sprints.

How it unfolded – The Carruthers Files . . .

The course race was on a nice 6.5km circuit fringed with rivers, wet lands and plenty of tree-lined roads. It was slightly rolling and punctuated with several bridges to test the legs. It was a warm 26 degrees, but it was quite windy on parts of the circuit which would prove to be testing. The action did not begin till the second lap sprint that was won by Cui Yinhao and I attempted a breakaway move immediately after, but no-one came with me and I was left out front for several minutes. After being caught by the peloton, I recovered enough and got a lead-out from Croneborg to win the second sprint quite handily.

The break looking strong mid race - Croneborg a familiar face on the front . . .

After recovering yet again, I made my next move on the top side of the course with a vicious attack that was closely marked by Croneborg. After 15 seconds I turned to see Neijssen and the rest of the field in tow. I made a hard left swerve to sit up while Croneborg, Shen Jiachen and a Specialized rider continued the momentum I created. When I sat up, so did Neijssen and the rest of the chasing field. The break was allowed to establish a gap. At the second major bridge, I put in another hard attack and established a decent gap with the eventual winner, Liu Heng (China Trek Racing) closing on me. I got him to pull through and was able to move into Liu’s slipstream. I turned to check on progress, only to see Yellow and the field closing. I decided to sit up again and the Trek rider made a successful bridge across to the break.

The gap hovered around the 30 second mark for quite sometime, but some disorganization in the chase with very few riders willing to cut into the wind, resulted in the gap swelling out to two minutes. Before the half-way mark, the Specialized rider was dropped from the breakaway and came back to the main bunch. When this happened, I believed that Specialized would organize themselves on the front to reel the break back. If they wanted to keep Neijssen in Yellow, they needed to take control of the race to stop Croneborg, who was now the biggest threat. It baffled me to see Specialized trying to launch riders up the road one at a time. Perhaps they thought some of their stronger riders could time-trial across to the break on their own. But it was to no-avail and the pace just surged to erratically high speeds, and when riders ran out of steam there was a big lull in the pace. Not many riders were interested in working on the front in a smooth rotating pace-line to close the gap to the break. 

After working on the front myself for a couple of laps with some limited help, I went straight to the back of the peloton for the last two laps to conserve energy for the finale. My plan was to make the move on the straightaway leading to the final turn. Using the two earlier sprints as a guide, I knew that the rider hitting the final turn first would be nicely poised to take the bunch win. When the first surge occurred about ¼ down the final straight, I reacted and jumped to mid-pack before soft-pedaling in anticipation of the final surge to the corner. I was still about 12 riders back at this point and when the final move went, I started to power past the riders; but I cramped in both legs and found myself alternating between sitting and standing position to stave them off. I somehow managed to hit the turn alongside Cui Yinhao (China Trek Racing) and then drew ahead to take second in the sprint behind a clearly ecstatic Simon Cui (Specialized) who had emerged out of the corner with several bike lengths ahead of the pack.

The mens podium (l-r) Shen Jiachen (Gu Tong Zipp), Liu Heng (Trek China Racing), Fredrik Croneborg (Chains Sprockets-Wilier)

Simon Cui’s placing put him within one point of the overall lead.  Provided that Specialized can ride more cohesively at the next stage, they can regain the overall lead. Afterall, they do have several good weapons at their disposal. Regardless, the series has now become more exciting with several other teams also in the hunt.

Mens A Category

1. 刘恒 Liu Heng (TCR)
2. 沈佳晨 Shen jiachen (古铜)
3. Fredrik Croneborg (Chain's Sprockets-Wilier)
4. 崔朝飞 Simon Cui (中国闪电)
5. 柯丹尼 Daniel Carruthers (Champion System)

Mens B Category

1. 柳寒岩 Liu hanyan (Panaracer上海起点)
2. 路遥 Lu Yao (Panaracer上海起点)
3. 于钧翔 Yu junxiang  (上海轮语车队 Team CyclingAna)
4. 高继荣 Haro Gao  (Chain's Sprockets-Wilier)
5. 龚万羚 Gong Wanling 古铜

Mens A Category Yellow Jersey

1. Fredrik Croneborg (Chain's Sprockets-Wilier)

Mens A Category Green Jersey

1. 崔尹浩 Cui Yinhao  (TCR)

This article submitted by Daniel Carruthers. Who is Mr. Daniel Carruthers (we call him 'Mr.' now that we have seen him ride . . . .)? Daniel is a New Zealander who is based in Hangzhou, China and races for Team Champion System. Daniel is a freelance writer and photographer who is currently studying his PhD at Zhejiang University. Find out more about Daniel at www.danielcarruthers.com

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