Paul Double has claimed his debut WorldTour general classification win, taking the overall victory at the Tour of Guangxi.
The British rider set himself up for success yesterday by soloing to the win on the queen stage of the six-day race. He went into the final stage with a 15-second lead to defend to keep a hold of the leader’s red jersey.
Team Jayco AlUla worked hard to keep control of the race, managing the gap to a small breakaway group for much of the day. As the race exploded over the final climb, and second-placed overall Victor Lafay went on the attack, Alan Hatherly and then Jasha Sütterlin were at hand to help Double close the gap.
Attacks continued into the final kilometres of the race, but Double and the rest of the Team Jayco AlUla squad kept their cool. Ultimately, the stage finished in a reduced bunch sprint with Double riding to the line safely in the group to seal the overall victory.
Paul Double
“I’m very happy and it was a bit emotional at the finish line, with the boys who were so good today. I was happy yesterday, but to finish the job today is a bit emotional. When Lafay went on the last lap, I panicked. The boys told me not to, but I was panicking. I tried to pull it back on my own and I was not doing a great job, but then Alan was there and he was super strong and then Jasha came back. It was all fine in the end, and here we are, I’ve got the red jersey. The form was good going into the race, but there are a lot of really good bike riders here. As I said yesterday, I wanted to do well but I didn’t expect this.”
Steve Cummings – Sport Director
“It is a very nice result for the team to end the season like this. We came here with a strong team, all the riders were in good shape, which is always a challenge at the end of the season. We tried in the sprints, but had some bad luck, being behind a crash and mechanical on another day. However, the performance of the sprint team improved, the boys did an excellent job but we just didn’t have the legs.
In the GC competition, Paul raced the stage five climb on instinct and had the power to anticipate the favourites. It was very impressive and even more impressive after the season he has had. Paul took the step up to WT level this season, completed his first Grand Tour and has won five times over the year. It’s great for the team that a rider like him has come to us, continually improved and performed better than the ever. I’m sure he will be the first to thank his teammates who have all been instrumental in positioning him throughout the week and controlling the final stage.”
Tour of Guangxi overall results
1. Paul Double (Team Jayco AlUla) 22:37:12
2. Victor Lafay +15
3. Jhonatan Narvaez +16
Photo: Sprint Cycling
