Stage 2: For Mareczko, it’s only the beginning
Beaten by Jon Aberasturi in the first sprint finish in Wanning-Xinglong, arch favorite Jakub Mareczko got everything right on day 2 as he outsprinted Martin Laas (Delko Marseille), Dylan Page (Swiss national team) and the rest of the field at the end of the longest stage (230km) finishing in Haikou. The Italian from Wilier Triestina also moved into the lead.
127 riders started stage 2 in Wanning-Xinglong. It was a fierce battle until the first intermediate sprint at km 23.7 where Mareczko took one second bonus as he came third behind Ukraine’s Mikhaylo Kononenko (Kolss) and Laas who positioned himself as Delko Marseille’s sprinter for the day while the French team had another option with Latvia’s Emil Liepins. After 42km of racing, a breakaway finally took shape with King of the Mountains Vitaly Buts (Kolss), Benjamin Hill (Attaque Gusto), Ivar Slik (Monkey Town), Ma Guangtong (Hengxiang) and Lukas Meiler (Vorarlberg). A lone chaser for a while, Alexis Cartier (H&R Block) didn’t manage to bridge the gap. The maximum lead of the quintet was 6.20 at km 108.
Hill, Slik and Meiler stayed away after the intermediate sprint at km 123 while Buts and Ma returned to the peloton. Hill also gave up bu Slik and Meiler forged on until 84km to go. 75km before the end, another group rode away, composed of Rick Van Breda (Monkey Town), Jordan Cheyne (Jelly Belly) and Fabian Lienhard (Vorarlberg). They made a maximum gap of 3.30 for themselves with 39km to go. Van Breda was first to be swallowed by the peloton led strongly by riders from Wilier Triestina, Kolss and IsoWhey Sports-Swisswellness. Cheyne insisted on his own in the last ten kilometers but was caught under the flamme rouge of the last kilometre.
Put in the right place by Abania’s Eugert Zhupa who is his guardian angel at Wilier Triestina, Mareczko launched his sprint from very far out but remained in first position until the finishing line to collect his second success at the Tour of Hainan after a first stint in 2015. This is only his first one in the 12th edition with seven more stages to be contested.
