Although the route of the final section of the 180-kilometre stage from Chongzuo to Jingxi presented no difficulties, the teams’ sprint trains had not really been able to form on the wide road. Top favourite Magnier had lost his lead-out man and was therefore forced to launch his sprint into the headwind 300 metres before the finish line. Biesterbos was on the Frenchman’s rear wheel in this situation and managed to overtake him at the crucial moment.

Although the duo had already built up a lead of a few metres, they needed every one of them to prevent Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) from taking the win. The Dutchman came charging up from behind at breakneck speed. Had the finish line been two metres further back, he would have taken the win. As it was, he had to settle for third place. Max Kanter (XDS Astana Team) finished fourth, riding in Kooij’s slipstream.

For the beleaguered Picnic team, which most recently faced a voluntary withdrawal from the WorldTour Although he had been eyeing it up, it was only his third victory in the very last few days of the season – and his first at WorldTour level. Biesterbos himself had come close to his maiden victory on several occasions this autumn. He finished second at the Gooikse Pijl and third at the Sparkassen Münsterland Giro. The man from Apeldoorn first made his mark almost exactly a year ago, when – more or less out of the blue (he was Dutch champion, but otherwise hardly ever featured in the scene’s races) – he became runner-up in the World Championships on a gravel bike. He has now proven over the course of the season that this was no flash in the pan.

Biesterbos and chance

“My first victory in a road race really meant a lot to me,” said Biesterbos afterwards. “The fact that it was a WorldTour race straight away is pretty crazy. I ended up on Magnier’s wheel a bit by chance, but it paid off in the end. He had to make his move early and I was then able to overtake him. It was a tough sprint; even the last 30 kilometres after the climb – which was pretty tough in itself – weren’t easy.”

Magnier continues to lead the general classification, whilst Biesterbos has now moved into second place, six seconds behind. Sam Welsford (Netcompany INEOS), who finished second on the opening stage, played no part this time but remains in third place, ten seconds behind. Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain – Victorious) has taken the first mountains jersey of the tour. He launched an attack shortly before the day’s only mountain classification.

On Stage 3 – the longest stage of the tour at 211 kilometres – there are several climbs in the final third, which certainly do not rule out a sprint from a reduced peloton, but do make it rather unlikely.

Tour of Guangxi 2026 – Stage 2 results

Here’s how the second stage of the 2026 Tour of Guangxi unfolded

Although the terrain was flat and the prospects of success weren’t particularly high at the start of the stage, it took 60 kilometres for the breakaway of the day to establish itself. Attacks came thick and fast right from the start. Among those in the first breakaway was Jasha Sütterlin (Team Jayco AlUla), who is still riding to secure a new contract. There were six riders in total, including strong riders such as the Dane Julius Johansen (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) and the French Tour de France breakaway king Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto Intermarché).

However, the group at the back of the peloton was not to the liking of either the sprinters’ teams or the rivals, who were also hoping to capitalise on the breakaway. In the next attempt, Veistroffer took his compatriot Kevin Vauquelin (Netcompany INEOS) with him, but this attempt too was quickly brought to an end. Veistroffer did not give up, however, and subsequently tried his luck with, amongst others, Rune Herregodts (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) and Dries De Bondt (Team Jayco AlUla), before, after 60 kilometres, a group of seven – including the two Belgians, Johansen, the Frenchman Louis Barré (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) and Yesterday’s breakaway rider, Patrick Gamper (Team Jayco AlUla). But even they couldn’t break away from the peloton.

They only managed it on the next attempt, when Jonas Rickaert (Alpecin – Premier Tech) tried his luck alongside the Chinese rider Chenglu Liu (China Anta – Mentech Cycling Team), and this duo was apparently deemed no threat. This assessment remained unchanged even when Martin Tjøtta (Uno-X Mobility) and De Bondt joined them. There were still 113 kilometres to go. The quartet managed to build up a lead of up to two minutes.

General classification favourites Pidcock and Ayuso are wide awake

About halfway along the remaining stretch, Rickaert dropped back; the first and only mountain classification of the day was not far away. Liu also had to concede defeat there, whilst Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) and Javier Romo (Movistar Team) tried to catch up with the leaders from the peloton. They managed to do so 33 kilometres from the finish, but shortly afterwards the main peloton had caught up with them again. As the highest point had not yet been reached, there were further breakaway attempts, but Decathlon and Soudal Quick-Step, in particular, ultimately kept the peloton together.

There were further breakaway attempts even in the final kilometres of the day. Vauquelin tried again, as did Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe), Juan Ayuso (Lidl – Trek) and all the other general classification favourites were wide awake. Magnier, meanwhile, remained unfazed; his team reeled in all the breakaway riders six kilometres from the finish.

In the Grand Final, however, the Frenchman lost his lead-out, so he had to take the wind himself quite early on. Biesterbos had the best wheel to follow in that situation – Magnier’s – and made the most of it.