Not all the sprinters had made it through the challenging middle section of the 166-kilometre stage from Bama to Tian’e. The previous day’s winner, Milan Fretin (Cofidis), Sam Welsford (Netcompany INEOS), Fabio Jakobsen (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – who appears to be on the up – and other professionals reached the finish line a good 17 minutes behind. Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) hadn’t even started the stage, which is why his lead-out man, Bol, took the sprint himself and ultimately performed better than his team captain had done throughout the tour.
It just wasn’t quite enough against Magnier, who took his tally for the season to 15 wins. “I’m really happy that it worked out again today. It was a tough day – I got dropped at one point, but my team brought me back into the race. Everything went smoothly at the finish; I was able to launch my sprint 200 metres from the line, even though I was a bit worried I might get cramp because it was such a tough race.”
With a ten-second lead over Frits Biesterbos (Team Picnic PostNL), who crossed the finish line in fourth place. Magnier now takes this lead into the next stage, where he will have another chance to fight for the stage win and defend the jersey for another day, before the decisive mountain finish at the end of the tour.
Tour of Guangxi 2026 – Stage 4 results
Stage 4: Bama - Tian'e
Tour of Guangxi 2026: Stage 4, Bama - Tian'e
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No results available yet
How the 4th stage of the 2026 Tour of Guangxi unfolded
The two Belgians, Dries De Bondt (Team Jayco AlUla) and Robbe Ghys (Decathlon CMA CGM), along with the French duo Veistroffer and Enzo Paleni (Groupama – FDJ United), a quartet broke away immediately after the start; the peloton made no further challenge to them and they were given a free run. Veistroffer was the first to cross the line at the day’s first three mountain classifications.
The pace in the peloton was particularly high on the third climb – the toughest of the day, around 80 kilometres from the finish. A number of sprinters lost touch, including Magnier. Shortly after the summit, however, he fought his way back into the group.
During a series of uncategorised climbs a good 35 kilometres from the finish, Kevin Vauquelin (Netcompany INEOS), with Louis Barré (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) on his wheel, attacked from the peloton, which at that point was still around one and a half minutes behind the leaders. By the day’s final mountain climb, the pair had caught up with the leaders. However, on the long, downhill section that followed, the peloton closed the gap once more, and the breakaway attempt came to an end twelve kilometres from the finish.
Even on the final, flat kilometres of the day, a few riders – including Alexey Lutsenko (NSN Cycling Team) – attempted to prevent a sprint finish. However, 2,000 metres from the finish line, Decathlon, leading the pack, had reeled in all the stragglers. With 800 metres to go, there was another crash on a bend. More than 15 riders were involved in the crash, but the sprinters had made it through and were able to contest the finish, in which Magnier – who had no technical problems this time – proved to be the fastest.
