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Sunday, October 19, 2025

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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. - Michelangelo

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Current racing:

• October 14 - 19: Tour of Guangxi
• October 14 - 19: Tour of Holland
• October 19: Veneto Classic
• October 19: Japan Cup
• October 19: Chrono des Nations

Latest completed racing:

• October 15: Giro del Veneto
• October 12: Paris-Tours
• October 11: Il Lombardia
• October 9: Gran Piemonte
• October 7: Binche-Chimay-Binche
• October 7: Tre Valli Varesine
• October 6: Coppa Bernocchi
• September 28 - October 5: Tour de Langkawi
• October 5: Coppa Agostoni
• October 4: Giro dell'Emilia
• October 3: Mûnsterland Giro
• September 21 - 28: World Cycling Championships
• September 17 - 21: Tour de Luxembourg

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Tour of Guangxi stage five team reports

We posted the report from stage winner & new GC leader Paul Double's Team Jayco AlUla with the results.

Here's the report from Paul Magnier's Team Soudal Quick-Step:

Nongla Scenic Spot, a 3.2km climb averaging 7.3%, hosted the most important stage of the Tour of Guangxi for the fourth time in six years, and as expected, it completely reshuffled the general classification, pretty much setting it in stone before Sunday’s last stage.

Victorious in the first four stages of the event, a performance not seen before this season at World Tour level, Paul Magnier started the day in the leader’s red jersey. The 21-year-old knew the finish wouldn’t suit him, but he still played an important role on the stage, helping his Soudal Quick-Step teammates as much as possible before the big moves came on the first-category ascent which featured ramps of 17% inside the closing kilometer.

Paul Magnier wins stage four. Getty Sport photo

It was there that the breakaway was caught and the gaps between the main contenders were opened, as the winner emerged just as the gradients hit double-digits. Paul Double (Jayco-AlUla) was the one who took the victory on Nongla, moving into the overall lead with one day to go, while Antoine Huby concluded as the best-placed rider of our team, just a few seconds off the top ten.

On the last stage of the Tour of Guangxi, Magnier will now sport the blue jersey, rewarding the leader of the points standings, which he is favourite to win before finally bringing his exceptional season to a conclusion.

Here's the Tour of Guangxi stage five report from Jhonatan Narvaez's UAE Team Emirates-XRG:

Jhonatan Narváez continued his consistent week at the Tour of Guangxi, riding to sixth place on the Queen stage to move up to third overall. The Ecuadorian climbed with the best on the race’s only summit finish, and ceded just 11 seconds to the day’s winner, Paul Double (Jayco AlUla).

Earlier in the day, Narváez’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Julius Johansen did a great job of keeping the breakaway in check, before Rui Oliveira came to the fore and guided his colleagues onto the final climb.

Once on the steep slopes to the Nongla Scenic Spot, both Narváez and Jan Christen showed their form for the Emirati squad, with Narváez managing his resources to finish strongly at the summit on stage 5.

Previously known as a puncheur specialist, Narváez has honed his climbing abilities this season with UAE Team Emirates-XRG, with the Ecuadorian national champion winning the Santos Tour Down Under in January and even finishing 14th at the Tour de France in July.

Jhonatan Narváez in the leader's jersey after stage five of the 2025 Tour Down Under. Sirotti photo

Producing another brilliant showing this time around, Narváez stuck to the back wheels of pure climbers such as Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Victor Lafay (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), before coming across the line in sixth.

Narváez, having accumulated a series of bonus seconds in the intermediate sprints throughout the week, now moves up to third overall, with one stage remaining in the final WorldTour race of the season. The Ecuadorian sits only 16 seconds behind the new race leader, Paul Double.

Narváez: “I was feeling good, I think the team did a good job. It was just about me, it was just about legs on the last climb. I knew the climb was really steep, but I was trying to survive to sprint in the last steep part. It was hard.

“In the end, I am happy, I did everything I could, and there is still one day to go here in the race.”

And here's the Tour of Guangxi report from Team Visma | Lease a Bike:

Jørgen Nordhagen and Cian Uijtdebroeks delivered a strong performance in the queen stage of the Gree Tour of Guangxi. The young duo from Team Visma | Lease a Bike climbed impressively on the steep final ascent, finishing fourth and fifth respectively. The stage win went to Paul Double.

Paul Double wins Tour of Guangxi stage five. Photo: Sprint Cycling

After four days of bunch sprints, a similar scenario was never on the cards for stage five. The 165-kilometre route may have started flat, but the finale contained two climbs, including a decisive final ascent of just over three kilometres at an average gradient of nearly eight percent.

A breakaway animated much of the day, holding a steady gap of several minutes over the peloton. The real action unfolded on the final climb, where Double launched a strong solo effort to take the win. Nordhagen and Uijtdebroeks crossed the line eleven seconds behind the British rider in a shattered field. Their strong ride also saw them move up in the general classification: Nordhagen now sits fifth, while Uijtdebroeks occupies sixth place. Nordhagen is the new leader in the youth classification.

“The legs felt good today”, Uijtdebroeks said afterwards. “This was clearly the toughest stage of the race. With the difficult finish, our plan as a team was to focus on the final climb. I felt strong, the legs were there, but unfortunately the win was just out of reach.”

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