Rapha Condor’s Dean Downing took a well deserved stage victory in the 157km Stage 5 of the Tour of Taiwan yesterday. Downing had threatened a stage win with a 3rd place earlier in the race and put his awesome sprint to good use in today’s hilly Stage 6, finishing second. Speaking on cyclingnews.com Downing said “It was perfect for me and in the last 250 metres I rode off the rider from CCC and went in for the finish. I thought it wasn’t going to be enough but when I saw the line, I knew that I had it.” Downing has many accolades to his cycling CV including victory in the British Criterium Championships.
Downing, who is a big Bike Pure supporter, now sits in second place in the points competition and 6th overall, 29 seconds down on the race leader. His team Rapha Condor-Sharp head the team classification. The Tour of Taiwan has gained in stature in recent years, a UCI 2.2 graded event, consisting of riders from more than 17 nations. This year’s seven stage edition covers a total of 880 kilometers.
The race finishes on Saturday with a 60km criterium in Taipei, and will once again surely be a battle of the sprinters. Belfast’s David McCann (Giant Asia) maintains his lead in the overall classification and should secure the overall barring accidents.
Please visit Dean’s website at www.deandowning.com or follow him on twitter.com/deanodown
Photo: © Lin Chien Hung
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