Bos makes a hat trick

Theo Bos of Belkin Pro Cycling won his third consecutive stage at the 2013 Tour of Hainan as he outsprinted Rico Rogers from Synergy Baku and Crelan-Euphony’s Kevin Peeters. At the difference of the two previous days, his team-mate Moreno Hofland didn’t come second but retained the overall lead.

“I got boxed in and I couldn’t follow him anymore”, the young Dutch leader said. “But I didn’t lose any time on GC and that was my objective. I even increased my lead by one second by finishing third in an intermediate sprint.”

“This victory is a little bit different from the other two”, Bos explained. “This time, a breakaway went from the start. We had three riders in it but not Moreno, so we hesitated for a while and then decided to close the gap. Later a breakaway of three riders went and it was not as easy as the other days to control. They were riding pretty fast at the front.”

Thomas Rostollan (La Pomme Marseille), Vitaly Buts (Ukraine) and Liu Yilin (Hengxiang) got a maximum lead of 5.28 at half way into the race. Buts won the first King of the Mountain price of the Tour of Hainan. “That was my goal and my reason for breaking away”, said the Ukrainian. “Now I’ll try and defend the jersey by scoring more KOM points.”

Buts dropped his two breakaway companions in two parts, first Liu then Rostollan. He still had an advantage of 1.25 over the peloton with 15km to go but got reined in at the 10km to go mark. 

Bos won another bunch sprint but underlined that it’s getting harder and harder. “So far, I’m happy with the speed I feel in my legs, and once again, my lead out man Lars Boom dropped me off at a perfect timing for sprinting”, said the Dutchman who keeps breaking records in Hainan and won three stages in the same race for the first time in his career. “But the course will be harder in the coming days. Today in the small hills, I could already feel the legs heavier. However, I’m getting used to racing in China. It’s nice to see the big crowds and people with a smile on their face when we ride through the villages.”

Stage 4 Results – Tour of Hainan
1. Theo Bos (BEL) 4:18:12
2. Rico Dene Rogers (BCP)
3. Kevin Peeters (CRE)
4. Boris Shpilevskiy (RTS)
5. Yuriy Metlushenko (UKR)
6. Yanick Martinez (LPM)

General classification –Tour of Hainan
1. Moreno Hofland (BEL) 13:40:45
2. Frédéric Amorison (CRE) +33
3. Thomas Leezer (BEL) +43
4. Kevin Peeters (CRE) +45
5. Fabian Schnaidt (CSS) +47
6. William Walker (DPC)

LEADERBOARD going into stage five, the classification leaders are:
Yellow Jersey (Individual GC): Moreno Hofland (BEL) 13:40:45
Green Jersey (Points Classification): Moreno Hofland (BEL) 62 Pts
Polka Dot Jersey: Vitaliy Buts (UKR) 5 Pts
Blue Jersey (Best Asian Rider Classification): Liu Yilin (HEN)
Teams GC: Belkin Pro Cycling Team