Jeroen Meijers of Netherlands wins stage four of Tour de Taiwan
荷蘭車手 Jeroen Meijers 奪得環台灣賽第四賽段冠軍
| Intense competition expected in final stage in Kaohsiung
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Jeroen Meijers from Terengganu Polygon Cycling Team won the stage four of the Tour de Taiwan on Wednesday (March 15), crossing the finish line with a time of 4:00:25. The Tour de Taiwan stage four took place in Taiwan’s Nantou County on a sunny day, starting at Nantou County Hall and finishing at the scenic Sun Moon Lake, a popular tourist destination in central Taiwan. The race covered a total distance of 165.57km, the longest of the five. The course featured two intermediate sprints and two challenging KOMs, a climbing section of a ride where riders compete to finish in the shortest time, according to the event website press release. Ten riders broke away immediately at the 3km mark, including local rider Lu Shao-hsuan (盧紹軒) from Nantou City. "The leading group had a time gap of 6:19 at one point. However, the peloton chased them down before the second KOM at the 149km mark,” the release states. In the end, it was a sprint to the finish line, with Giacomo Ballabio from Global 6 Cycling finishing in second place, and Mathijs Paasschens from Lotto Dstny rounding out the top three. Meijers shared at the post-race conference, "At the end of a tough and competitive race, I couldn't be happier to have the yellow jersey and green jersey today. Coming off races like the Tour of Oman and Tour de Rwanda this February, my climbing skill has increased a bit." The Tour de Taiwan has been a closely contested race, with the general classification ranking incredibly close entering the final stage in Kaohsiung City on Thursday. Meijers currently leads the overall standings with a total time of 12:26:29. However, Jordi Lopez Caravaca from Equipo Kern Pharma is only one second behind in second place, while Benjamin Prades Reverter from JCL Team UKYO is only seven seconds behind the leader. The final stage covers a distance of 146.44km and is expected to be a competitive race as riders push themselves to the limit in pursuit of victory. |
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| George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer | |
| 2023-03-15 |
