Belarus Championship in the multi-day race among men, better known as the Tour of Belarus, has ended in Novogrudok. For the third year in a row, the yellow jersey of the leader is held by the racer of Minsk Cycling Club Yauheni Karaliok.
The current edition of the multi-day race brought together about fifty racers from Belarus, Russia, the UAE, Morocco and France.
At the first stage, the participants had to face a 34 km criterium (15 laps of 2.27 km). The race turned out to be fast (the average speed was over 45 km/h) and dynamic.
The first to cross the finish line was a breakaway of four people, 19 seconds ahead of the peloton. The winner of the stage was Vasili Strokau, a racer from Minsk Cycling Club. The second place went to the current winner of the Tour of Belarus, Yauheni Karaliok. The third place went to Ilia Baidikov, a representative of the Russian Solomon team.
Following the results of the first stage, Vasili Strokau led the general classification, and also took the jerseys of the most active acer and the most stable racer.
Mikita Tur, a racer of Minsk Cycling Club, started the next stage in the jersey of the best young racer.
The second stage started in Brest Fortress and finished 123 km later in Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
Again there was a breakaway. The trio of escapees remained out of reach of the peloton, which lost almost a minute and a half.
The first to cross the finish line was the rider of the Russian team "Lokosphinx" Viktor Bugaenko. The second place in the stage was taken by the sprinter of Minsk Cycling Club Yauheni Karaliok. The remaining participant of the breakaway Aliaksandr Sychuhou from the team "Teamvivarovar.art" closed the top three.
According to the results of the second stage, the leader jerseys also changed their owners. The overall standings were headed by Yauheni Karaliok. He also received the jerseys of the most active and the most stable racer.
The jersey of the best young racer was taken by the winner of the stage Viktor Bugaenko. He also led the fight for the mountain jersey.
The third stage of the Tour of Belarus ended with a confident victory of Yauheni Karaliok. The national champion in the individual race confirmed his class in the 25 km time trial, beating the silver medalist Viktor Bugaenko (Lokosfinx) by one minute. The average speed of the winner was 49.67 km/h. The third fastest time on the distance was shown by Aliaksandr Astalouski (+ 1:15).
The victory on the stage further strengthened Yauheni Karaliok leadership in the overall standings. After three stages, his advantage over his closest pursuer Viktor Bugaenko was 1:40. Karaliok also retained the jerseys of the most active and the most stable racer.
Viktor Bugaenko retained the mountain jersey and the jersey of the best young racer.
The fourth stage of the Tour of Belarus took place in Kamenyuki. The first to cover the 136 km distance was Nikita Beresnev, a racer from the Russian team "Lokosfinx". The group finished 15 seconds behind. The mass sprint and second place went to Yauheni Karaliok. Third place went to another racer of Minsk Cycling Club, Dzianis Marchuk.
After four stages, Yauheni Karaliok confidently led the overall standings, he also kept the jerseys of the most active and most stable racer.
The white jersey of the best young racer remained with the Russian Viktor Bugaenko.
But the polka dot jersey of the best climber changed its owner - the leader of this classification was Zakhar Kaminski, a racer from Minsk Cycling Club, who successfully performed at the mountain finishes.
Then the Tour of Belarus moved from Brest region to Grodno region. The fifth stage (145.5 km) started in Belovezhskaya Pushcha and finished in Slonim.
This time there was also a breakaway. Seven escapees, including the race leader Yauheni Karaliok, created a serious lead in front of the peloton. Five kilometers before the finish, Daniil Zarakovsky (Lokosfinx) and Siarhei Shauchenka (Minsk Cycling Club) attacked. They crossed the finish line in this order.
The pursuit group fell behind by almost fifty seconds. The sprint for third place was won by another representative of St. Petersburg team, Yegor Igoshev.
Yauheni Karaliok further strengthened his leadership in the general classification and the fight for the title of the most active and most stable racer.
The mountain jersey is confidently held by the racer of Minsk Cycling Club, Zakhar Kaminsky.
And the jersey of the best young racer after the fifth stage went to Aliaksandr Sychuhou.
The final day of the Tour of Belarus was held under the sign of Minsk Cycling Club.
On the sixth stage, 135 km long, with the start in Slonim and the finish in Novogrudok, the racers of the capital's team occupied the entire podium. Aliaksei Shmantsar won. Dzianis Marchuk was second, and Siarhei Shauchenka crossed the finish line third.
In the final general classification, all the prize places were also won by the racers of Minsk Cycling Club. For the third year in a row, Yauheni Karaliok became the winner of the Tour of Belarus. Silver went to Siarhei Shauchenka, bronze to Mamyr Stash.
The green jersey of the most active racer and the purple jersey of the most stable racer also went to Yauheni Karaliok.
Zakhar Kaminski, a racer from Minsk Cycling Club, added two jerseys to his trophy collection after winning the titles of the best climber and the best young racer.
The best team of the Tour of Belarus was the team of the city of Minsk.
