HAIKOU, China, Oct. 29 -- Italian riders highlighted the seventh day of the 2018 Tour of Hainan as they took the top four places in this stage on Monday in Sanya, south China's Hainan province.
Marco Benfatto from the team of Androni Giocattoli took the first place, followed by Imerio Cima from the Nippo Vini Fantini team. Andrea Guardini from the Bardiani CSF team was in third place and Benfatto's teammate Manuel Belletti took the fourth place.
This stage also concluded with a large group sprint against the wind. "So I started to gear up when I was approaching the finish line," said Benfatto, before that he was just in the peloton to conserve his energy for the sprint.
"I have a lot of match experience in China, but this is my first time to win in tour of Hainan, and this is awesome," Belletti said.
The 30-yer-old said that he would like to share this honor with his girlfriend, who is going to take an operation. "Hope this will bring good luck to her and she will recover as soon as possible," he added.
China's Lyu Xianjing of the Hengxiang Cycling team continued his lead in climbing points, keeping the polka-dot jersey of the best climber and the blue jersey of the leading Asian cyclist.
The 2018 Tour of Hainan will conclude in Danzhou city in southwest Hainan on Wednesday, covering a total distance of 1,481 kilometers, featuring 20 teams to vie for a total award of around 350,000 U.S. dollars.