Shen Jiachen (Gutong-CCN) had the freshest legs coming into the final lap of the 70km race and used this advantage to take the win easily over Simon Cui (Specialized) and Wilhelmus Neijssen (Specialized). Cui Yinhao (China Trek Racing) came in forth in front of Fredrik Croneborg (Chain's Sprockers-Willier). Champion System's Daniel Carruthers won the second group sprint for sixth place.

The lead group rolls across the finish line in the heat. Pictures© vision-black.com

How it unfolded

It was an extremely hot, muggy Shanghai day, the hottest so far this series, that had riders already perspiring at the start-line of Round five in the Shanghai Trek race series. When the gun went, the 40 elite riders sprung into action on the eight corner 4.9km course that was buffeted with high winds. It was Yellow jersey holder, Fredrik Croneborg (Chain's Sprockets-Willier), who made the first attacking move that instantly created a sizable gap on the peloton. The speed of this first lap stopped the timer at just over 6min 20seconds, the fastest for the entire race. This savage injection of speed served to splinter the peloton like a dry twig with riders dropping off the back. The whittling down of the peloton in the first lap left 16 riders. A charging Croneborg took maximum sprint points on laps two and three. Numerous riders attempted to bridge across to the lone rider but failed dismally. The Specialized team sent riders up the road, including some spirited efforts from Gary Loafman, Wilhelmus Neijssen and Simon Cui. Nothing was sustainable and the peloton seemed not willing to rotate smoothly to bring back Croneborg. It was not till lap six when a series of accelerations by Daniel Carruthers (Champion System) was closely marked by Simon Cui (Specialized). After several attempts, the peloton was strung out and gaps were opening up. Carruthers looked like he was going to make the bridge, but came within 10 metres before sitting up to let others finish the work. Simon Cui (Specialized) pounced on the opportunity to complete the bridge and was quickly followed by Cui Yinhao (China Trek Racing), Wilhelmus Neijssen (Specialized) and eventual winner Shen Jiachen (Gutong-CCN) were the last two that made it across to form a five-man breakaway.

Riders fought for water each lap - Carruthers (Champion System) takes the fluid as Wang (Chains Sprockets) looks hot. Pictures© vision-black.com

With all the key players in the breakaway, they had some serious horse-power which combined with hesitation, and suffocating heat, forged a commanding lead. Once the breakaway got out to over 40 seconds and increasing, the survivors of the chase group shut down and looked content to play cat and mouse over the minor placings (or maybe they were just bloody hot). A Bike Richardson Mart rider from Texas looked intent on breaking away on his own and spent a couple of laps dangling out front without increasing his lead. The Texan rider looked strong and made another attempt to get away with two to go, but was reeled back in quick time. It seemed that his matches should have been spent, however he surprised the remaining seven riders with a substantial attack in the last 700m – he immediately got a 30 meter gap. Champion System's Daniel Carruthers was the first to react and powered to close the gap and overtaking the Texan to finish the best of the chase group.

Croneborg (Chains Sprockets) shows how he has earned yellow - hard riding on the front. Pictures© vision-black.com

Meanwhile, in the break, it looked like Croneborg was doing the lion's share of the work along with Neijssen. Specialized had the advantage of having two riders in the break, both with a high chance of claiming Yellow depending on who won the battle between the five riders.  With 1.5 laps remaining in the race, Croneborg attempted to escape and created a good gap that lasted for several kilometres. However he was chased down by the breakaway. A final attempt by the pro-triathlete was launched down the last straightaway before final turn, but again he was kept on a tight leash.

When Cyclingnewsasia asked Neijssen why Specialized did not execute any tactics to split up the break before the finish he responded; “We were red-lining the whole time and it was difficult to try any tactical moves. The high wind and the heat made it a tough day out there. I was glad that I could get water from the neutral feed on every lap,” he said.  “I was also very pleasantly surprised that the breakaway succeeded – as it was extremely hard in the initial stages of establishing the break and I thought I was not going to survive.”

Specialized riders suffer in the heat. Pictures© vision-black.com

Shen Jiachen spent most of his time in the break riding anonymously at the back, closely watching his competitors and biding his time to make his decisive move which was in the final 200m. There appeared to be some confusion with the “official” numbers on Shen Jiachen, – he didn't have any - and this prevented Specialized from knowing which rider he was till after the race. He was sitting in third place at the beginning of the stage and the win gave him equal points to Simon Cui (Specialized), but due to count-back on placings in the previous four races, it was Shen Jiachen's turn to take over Yellow.  This Chinese rider is one to watch (if you can tell who he is) now as he has been consistently getting into the breakaways at every race and placing well.

“I lost Yellow today,” said Croneborg, “ but I did my best and really fought for it and I am not disappointed. It was a great workout and it was a fun race as well.”

A huge thank you to Nestle Water who supports the race series. Pictures© vision-black.com

Specialized will come out with all guns blazing in Round Six next month and they have two riders sitting in second and third overall.  It is shaping up to be an exciting series, with the overall lead now having been shared by three different teams.

Results

A Grade

1. 沈佳晨    Shen Jiachen    古铜
2. 崔朝飞    Cui Chaofei    闪电A队
3. Wilhelmus Neijssen    闪电A队
4. 崔尹浩    Cui Yinhao    TTC
5. Fredrik Croneborg     Chain's Sprockets-Wilier

B Grade

1. 乔自力    Qiao Zili    PROAIR B1
2. 黄羲斌    Huang xibin    Panaracer上海起点B2
3. 汪晨       Wang chen
4. 于钧翔    Yu Junxiang    上海轮语车队 Team CyclingAna
5. 顾嘉渊    Gu jiayuan    奥迪BBA车队

C Grade

1. 罗路明    Luo luming    骑众
2. 牛凯       Niu kai    上海骓驰C队
3. 吴昊       Wu hao    奥迪BBA车队
4. 丁博德    Ding Bode    奥迪BBA车队
5. 张泓洋    Zhang hongyang

MTB

1. 姜科    jiang ke    奥迪BBA车队
2. 金暐    jin wei    Panaracer上海起点
3. 文富俊    Wen fujun    骑众
4. 罗睿衡    luo ruiheng    Panaracer上海起点
5. 王业    Wang ye    奥迪BBA车队

Yellow Jersey Holder for the Series

1. 沈佳晨    shen jiachen    古铜

Green Jersey Holder for the Series

1. 崔尹浩    Cui Yinhao    TCR

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