Racers of Minsk Cycling Club Yauheni Karaliok and Yauhen Sobal won bright victories at the stages of Five Rings of Moscow stage road race. Minsk Cycling Club could have won the general classification, if not for the technical problems of Sobal, riding in a yellow jersey, at the last stage.
But first things first. The next edition of the traditional Moscow cycling race brought together 123 riders from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Moldova. During five racing days, the participants covered 577 kilometers along the roads of the Russian capital.
The race started with a prologue on the rowing canal in Krylatskoye. At a distance of 3.8 km, the fastest racer from Minsk and the champion of Belarus in the individual race Yauheni Karaliok showed the time of 4:35.07 seconds. The second place was taken by Alexander Evtushenko (Boqpod), the third place was taken by Mamyr Stash (Team of Russia).
The first stage, 156.8 km long, took place in Klenovo near Moscow. Yauheni Karaliok went to the start in the yellow jersey of the leader of general classification. The racers of Minsk Cycling Club confidently controlled the course of the race and kept the jersey. The stage itself ended with a mass sprint, which was won by Sergey Zatsepin (Dinamo Olympic Reserve School No. 2). Alexander Bereznyak, a representative of Tyumen Region team, came second, and Sergey Rostovtsev from the Russian national team was third.
According to the results of the second stage (149.6 km), which took place along the Olympic track in Krylatskoye, known for its difficult terrain, the yellow jersey changed its owner, but remained with Minsk Cycling Club. Experienced Yauhen Sobal won a brilliant victory from the breakaway. At the finish line, he was ahead of the nearest pursuer by more than a minute. The second place was taken by Evgenii Tikhonin (Moscow City Physical Culture and Sports Association), the third place went to Mikhail Fokin (Sports Training Center of Moscow Region).
The third stage (131.2 km) on Vorobyovy Gory brought the Belarusians another podium - the racer of Minsk Cycling Club Uladzimir Harakhavik, who performed for Viva Rovar team, was third in the bunch sprint. Alexander Evtushenko from Boqpod team won from the breakaway. The second was Kirill Malkov (InEx-Omsk region). The yellow jersey of the leader before the final stage remained with Yauhen Sobal.
The fourth stage (136 km) was again hosted by the Olympic track in Krylatskoye. The race was going well for Minsk Cycling Club and it seemed that no one would stop Sobal from winning Moscow stage race for the second time in his career. However, one and a half laps before the finish line, when Yauhen made an attempt to catch the breakaway, the technique failed. The bike was promptly changed, but Sobal failed to recover lost time on the remaining kilometers.
The stage was won by Petr Rikunov (Tyumen region), the second place was taken by the rider from Kazakhstan - Igor Zhang (Almaty cycling team), the third place - by Evgenii Tikhonin (Moscow City Physical Culture and Sports Association).
Andrei Stepanov (Tyumen region) became the winner of the general classification. The second place was taken by Evgenii Tikhonin (Moscow City Physical Culture and Sports Association), the third place - by Petr Rikunov (Tyumen region).
The best of the Belarusians was the racer of Minsk Cycling Club Yauhen Sobal - fourth place. Aliaksandr Piasetski, who competed in Moscow for Viva Rovar team, also finished the race in the top-10 - he took 9th place.
