Magnier had apparently failed to spot the Astana group as he attempted to move slightly to the left 500 metres from the finish. After two riders had made their move, the German sprinter came through, and the Frenchman, wearing the red jersey of the overall leader, collided with him. Whilst Magnier crashed but remained uninjured, Kanter was able to carry on and still finish sixth. This was in contrast to Frits Biesterbos (Team Picnic PostNL), who was held up by the falling Magnier.

Others, however, were sprinting for it. With two of his main rivals out of the running, it was then, just as on the third day of the tour, Fretin, who capitalised on Magnier’s misfortune to secure victory when he slipped off the pedals. Behind Fretin came Matteo Moschetti (Pinarello Q36.5 ProCycling Team) and Erlend Blikra (Uno-X Mobility), two riders who had not yet made it onto the podium in China. At the Tour of Guangxi, this was their last chance for a sprint finish.

As neither Magnier nor Biesterbos were able to collect bonus seconds, the Frenchman now heads into the final stage as the overall leader. He also managed to defend his lead in the points classification. Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto Intermarché) has retained the mountains jersey and, barring any surprises, should have it in the bag by the end of the tour. Apart from the points on offer at the mountain finish, there is little else to be gained on the final stage.

Tour of Guangxi 2026 – Stage 5 results

Here’s how Stage 5 of the 2026 Tour of Guangxi unfolded

Stage 5 saw another fierce battle for the leading group, just as on the previous day. Despite numerous attempts, including one by Bremen’s Niklas Behrens (Team Visma | Lease a Bike), no group managed to break away by the first intermediate sprint after 27 kilometres. And even after that, it took several more attacks before Jasha Sütterlin and Patrick Gamper (both Team Jayco AlUla), Veistroffer, along with Brandon Rivera (Netcomany INEOS) and Davide Formolo (Movistar Team), finally formed the day’s breakaway group.

In the hilly central section, Max Walker (EF Education – EasyPost) set off on his own from the peloton in an attempt to close the one-and-a-half-minute gap to the leaders, which he managed to do 80 kilometres from the finish. However, the gap was no longer particularly large by then. And after Veistroffer also won the day’s third mountain classification, he too had little left to contribute to the lead-out work. The breakaway riders were caught 14 kilometres from the finish.

The expected sprint was on the cards – but once again, the finish was unexpected: a second stage win for Fretin.