Norman Vahtra was close to winning the opening stage of the Hainan Cycling Tour in China, but he had to give up in the group finish to Matteo Malucelli (XDS Astana Team). The 90 km long, smooth opening stage took place in the city of Qionghai and ended, as expected, with a group finish on a long and wide finish line.
Vahtra, who pedals for the romantically named China Glory - Mentech Continental Cycling Team, managed to get out of Malucell's wind just before the finish line, but it was too late. The Estonian professional team Quick Pro Team was also at the start, with Martin Laas finishing fourth. Mihkel Räim finished 56th, Oskar Küüt 87th, Karl Patrick Lauk 110th, Oskar Nisu 132nd and Gleb Karpenko 133rd.
The Hainan Tour consists of five stages - also intended for mountain climbers - and ends on Friday in Sanya. Hainan is an island in the South China Sea, slightly smaller than Estonia, with a population of about 10 million people.
🇨🇳VIDEO: @tourofhainan @malumatteo1 wins the bunch sprint in Qionghai 💪👏 #TOH2025 #TourOfHainan #XDSAstanaTeam pic.twitter.com/ZH3qwO67l3
— XDS Astana Team (@XDSAstanaTeam) April 7, 2025
🇨🇳 PHOTOS: @tourofhainan @malumatteo1 and his win 🥇 in Stage 1 ⬇️ #TOH2025 #TourOfHainan #XDSAstanaTeam pic.twitter.com/OArJkPvEET
— XDS Astana Team (@XDSAstanaTeam) April 7, 2025
🏝️ A glimpse of today's action in #TOH2025
— Tour of Hainan (@tourofhainan) April 7, 2025
A lap of 90KM along the beautiful coastline of Hainan! pic.twitter.com/Bim0hEyMuT
