The winner of the last race of the 2024 season also comes from Slovenia. After Tadej Pogacar won two Grand Tours and several one-day races and Primoz Roglic the Vuelta, it is Matevz Govekar who can celebrate in the last race of the season. The Slovenian from Team Bahrain-Victorious attacked in the final sprint from behind Marijn van den Berg (EF Education EasyPost), who he pushed into second place with a perfectly timed attack. Team Lidl-Trek had previously opened the bunch sprint. Govekar's team-mate and rider Robert Stannard also managed third place on stage 6 of the Tour of Guangxi 2024.

Van Eetvelt becomes overall winner

After a strong performance and a stage win on stage 5, Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Dstny) had taken the lead ahead of the final day. This made him the hunted man in the battle for the overall standings on stage 6. Thanks to his team's strong chase work, he ensured that breakaway rider Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) was caught early on, and he also parried all the attacks of his rivals around Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates) and Co. on the final climb. The Belgian thus managed to defend his lead in the overall standings and can already celebrate his second victory in a World Tour race in 2024, having already won the Overall ranking of the UAE Tour had cleared.

Tour of Guangxi 2024: The results at a glance

How the 6th stage of the Tour of Guangxi 2024 went

The final 6th stage of the Tour of Guangxi took place on the same route on which the The women's one-day race of the same name was held a few hours earlier. It stretched over 134.3 kilometres in the form of a circuit around the city of Nanning, which was contested five times. This included five short but tough climbs on the 1.3 kilometre Qingxiushan Scenic Songtao Road with an average gradient of 12 per cent.

Wellens tries his luck as a runaway

It took almost 20 kilometres and several attacks before the leading group of the day formed. It consisted of a total of six riders and had a prominent group. Esteban Chaves (EF Education EasyPost) and Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) were among those in the breakaway group. Meanwhile, the Lotto-Dstny team, led by overall leader Lennert Van Eetvelt, took care of the chase in the peloton and did not allow the lead to grow too much. The group around Wellens gained just over two minutes at most.

Van Eetvelt parries all attacks

20 kilometres before the finish on the last Qingxiushan climb, the escapees were caught and the first attacks for the day's and overall victory began immediately. Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates) in fifth place overall in particular kept pushing the pace, but was unable to distance Van Eetvelt and co. Other riders such as Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), Johannes Staune-Mittet (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Artem Shmidt (Ineos Grenadiers) then tried to break away from the now thinned-out peloton.

Govekar wins

As no rider was able to open up a decisive gap, there was a bunch sprint at the end. Team Lidl-Trek opened this up early with Quinn Simmons for his sprinter Natnael Tesfatsion. However, they lacked the timing and the final punch and were quickly outsprinted by Marijn van den Berg. Matevz Govekar then launched the decisive attack from the Dutchman's rear wheel. He left van den Berg's slipstream and passed him. The Slovenian won the stage with a lead of over a bike length. Meanwhile, Lennert Van Eetvelt defended first place in the overall standings and won the stage.