Nov 18th, 09. Sam Horgan and the rest of the Subway Avanti team had to dig deep to keep their team hopes alive during Stage 7 in the Tour of Hainan, China.

The Subway Avanti team in China ©Paul Larkin

However, by stage-end Gordon McCauley retained his overnight position of fifth on General Classification following the withdrawal of injured fourth-placed Mykhailo Khalilov (Ukraine National Team) and the time bonus collected by stage winner Grega Bole (Slovenia National Team) who improved from sixth to fourth.

On the first of the three categorised climbs within the first 64km of the stage, a group of 25 riders rode clear of the main field.

Eric Drower was amongst the lead group. The leaders quickly established a promising lead as a number of other riders fought to re-join the front.

McCauley and Joseph Cooper were all but last to reach the front after Samuel Horgan turned on the after-burners to take the two GC contenders within striking distance of the leaders to jump across on the second climb.

Having made contact at the front, the 44 strong group rode clear of the remnants of the main field to eventually finish 24 minutes ahead.

The Subway – Avanti pre-stage plan did not eventuate. The plan was to ride conservatively and get as many of the team as possible over the final climb with the leaders. Although the presence of McCauley, Cooper, and Drower ensured the team was well represented to retain its second position on the Team Classification led by the Ukraine National Team.

Whilst the remaining 115km of the stage witnessed several attacks by small groups of riders, the high pace set by the Russian National Team and Nutrixxon Sparkasse team at the front of the leading group would not allow any move to succeed.

In the end it was the speed of Bole which got the better of Francisco Ventoso (Carmiooro A-Style) and tour leader Boris Shpilevsky (Russian National Team) in the sprint to the line. The stage averaged 44km/h.

The penultimate stage from Dongfang to Sanya is 178.5km and features three categorised climbs, its last just 25km from the finish.

The stage will surely test the Subway – Avanti Cycling Team even further if it is to ride away with a creditable overall performance from its first off-shore tour.

General Classification after Stage Seven;

1. Boris Shpilevsky (Russian National Team) 1143km in 26hrs 51mins 03secs

2. Francisco Ventoso (Carmiooro A-Style) at 10secs

3. Vitaliy Buts (Ukraine National Team) at 25secs

4. Grega Bole (Slovenia National Team) at 26secs

5. Gordon McCauley (Subway – Avanti Cycling Team) at 36secs

6. Matthias Brandle (Elk Haus) at 38secs

Others (Subway – Avanti Cycling Team);

33. Eric Drower at 49secs

36. Joseph Cooper at 49secs

54. James Williamson at 24mins 49secs

66. Samuel Horgan at 25min 22secs

Hayden Godfrey at 59mins 09secs

112. Joshua England at 1hr 17mins 06secs

Team Classification;

1. Ukraine National Team (UKR) 80hrs 35mins 20secs

2. Subway – Avanti Cycling Team (NZL) at 9secs

3. Carmiooro A-Style (ITA) at 16secs

Greg Hume

Team Manager

Thanks to Subway Avanti's Greg Hume and Paul Larkin for the race report and photo.