The Colombian is virtual winner of the blue jersey at the final World Tour race of the year.
Fernando Gaviria notched up his 17th top-3 finish of the season on the penultimate day of the Tour of Guangxi, which started from Liuzhou and took the peloton to Guilin, over 212.2 kilometers sprinkled with several short hills which in the end didn't pose any problem to the sprinters, who got over those climbs and took center stage for the fourth time at this edition.
Triple stage winner Fernando Gaviria carried the flag once again for Quick-Step Floors and after being launched by the excellent Maximiliano Richeze, crossed the line in second, following a tight sprint won by a hair's breadth by Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo). Teammate Julian Alaphilippe concluded in the same time and retained his white jersey ahead of the final day (Guilin – Guilin, 168 kilometers).
"It was a really long stage, especially for the month of October. The boys did a fine job from the start of the day, sheltering me from the wind and on the climbs, while at the same time pulling behind the escapees and bringing them back. I'm not happy with my second place, as the goal was to win, but on the plus side I've increased my lead in the points standings ahead of the last stage", said Fernando, who tops the blue jersey classification by over 20 points.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele
