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Tour of Chongming Island, 2012

WCN quicklink >>    Stage 1      Stage 1 Full       Stage 2     Stage 2 Full     Stage 3    Stage 3 Full   General photos

Previous coverage of Tour of Chongming Island  >>  2012   2011    2010    

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Stage 2 - Baccaille wins sprint and moves into overall

Chongxi Stage, 118.4km

Race Writeup

Monia Baccaille (McCipolini) positioned herself perfectly for the sprint at the end of the 118.4km stage to Chongxi. On her wheel was Chloe Hosking (Specialised Lululemon) and American, Shelly Olds (AA Drink). Overnight leader, Melissa Hoskins (Orica-AIS ) was fourth ahead of Rochelle Gilmore (Faren)

The sun shone on the scenic second stage of the Tour of Chongming Island. This stage included in the first 40 kilometres narrow, twisting roads along the coast and through parkland around a lake. There was a stiff breeze and in previous years, this has been the place for a breakaway. AA Drink's Marieke van Wanroij was the rider to test her luck this year. She saw a gap at the front of the bunch and jumped from the pack. Nobody went with her and the Dutchwoman soon built up a gap of 40 seconds. The bunch allowed her to lead all the way until towards the end of the parkland. As the race approached wider roads again and perhaps more importantly, the first intermediate sprint point of the day, van Wanroij was caught. 

The pace lifted on the wide roads leading to the sprint point, situated at 39 km. A group of three did break away momentarily, but with bonus seconds towards general classification available, there was no chance that they would stay away. That first sprint was won by race leader, Melissa Hoskins (Orica-AIS), with Liesbet De Vocht (Rabo Women) second and Monia Baccaille (MCipollini), third. 

Although the middle part of the race was peppered with some aggressive solo attacks and also some high paced coordinated team riding at the front, no significant breaks ensued.

The second sprint signalled the end of the second third of the race, at 83km of the 118km total distance. Once more Orica-AIS and MCipollini were active. The sprint was taken by Baccaille, followed by Shelley Olds and Hoskins. 

Having started the day seven seconds behind Hoskins and after the two intermediate sprints, the situation on the road was unchanged - still a seven second advantage to Hoskins. 

The run back in to the finish was a steady acceleration. The Orica-AIS and MCipollini teams made sure the pace was high in the final kilometres. Rabo Women and  AA Drink were also 'in the mix' with their riders forming trains to set up the sprint. Once again, there was a crash in the final kilometre, this time caused by a sudden change in  direction at the front after one rider clipped a pedal or foot on the foot of one of the barriers lining the course. Her change in direction and speed caused a 'snake' or 'whiplash' immediately behind. Several riders fell heavily and were taken to hospital with suspected broken bones. 

Once again, as had been the case on Stage 1, the leaders were unaffected and Baccaille was clearly ahead and able to maintain her advantage over the final 100 metres. She crossed the line first, second was Chloe Hosking (Specialized-lululemon), third, Shelley Olds (AA Drink). Yellow jersey, Hoskins finished fourth. That put her outside of bonus seconds and with Baccaille picking up ten seconds for the win, put her second on general classification, three seconds behind the new leader. 

“Yesterday wasn’t so good,” sighed Baccaille, reflecting somewhat harshly on her third place in stage one. “I just went too early in the sprint. That’s why it was beautiful to see my team ride so perfectly today. We were on the front for the last five kilometres; it was a race between GreenEDGE and MCipollini. I feel like I’m getting stronger and of course now I hope to win overall.“

The general classification now has only Baccaille and Hoskins within three seconds of each other. Rochelle Gilmore (Faren) is third, 16 seconds behind along with Hosking and Olds. Stage 3 is a city circuit race, on relatively wide roads. 11 laps of 7.2km will be raced. Recent history on this circuit suggests that breakaways do not succeed and that there will be a mass sprint at the finish. The implication of this is that the 3 intermediate sprints and finish line bonuses could prove important to the general classification.

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Results - Top 10 - click here to see full result

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General Classification Top 10 - click here to see full GC

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Photos   Click on any image to enlarge >>

2012_China_Stage2_001	2012_China_Stage2_005	2012_China_Stage2_009	2012_China_Stage2_025
2012_China_Stage2_048	2012_China_Stage2_071	2012_China_Stage2_079	2012_China_Stage2_083
2012_China_Stage2_084	2012_China_Stage2_106	2012_China_Stage2_116	2012_China_Stage2_126
2012_China_Stage2_167	2012_China_Stage2_171	2012_China_Stage2_175	2012_China_Stage2_178
2012_China_Stage2_242	2012_China_Stage2_248	2012_China_Stage2_267	2012_China_Stage2_331
2012_China_Stage2_352	2012_China_Stage2_375	2012_China_Stage2_412	2012_China_Stage2_443
2012_China_Stage2_513	2012_China_Stage2_1003	2012_China_Stage2_529	2012_China_Stage2_548
2012_China_Stage2_556	2012_China_Stage2_565	2012_China_Stage2_575	2012_China_Stage2_1004
2012_China_Stage2_576	2012_China_Stage2_583

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