Martin Laas delighted with XDS Cup Tour of Hainan victory: ‘Super proud of the boys and myself’

We get the lowdown on the stage 2 sprint, as Laas explains his perfect lead-out and podium finishers Aaron Gate and Timothy Dupont heap praise on Ferei Quick-Panda Podium Mongolia

As he stood beside a fire engine at the finish line in Lingshui, Timothy Dupont let a stream of water cascade down on him from above. There was a wide smile on the Belgian’s face and he cracked jokes with his fellow riders, all of whom were happy to have finished stage 2 of the XDS Cup Tour of Hainan.

It was a scene not unusual for racing in this corner of the world, where midday temperatures regularly exceed 40 degrees Celsius and the peloton is pushed to its limit. But the serenity that surrounded Dupont was striking for a rider who had just been beaten to the line in a bunch sprint. The Tarteletto-Isorex sprinter had placed third behind Aaron Gate (Burgos-BH) and Martin Laas (Ferei Quick-Panda Podium Mongolia) on Wednesday afternoon, his late surge not proving enough to claim a first win since February.

Speaking to 7Cycling after he had dried off, however, it soon became clear why Dupont was a man satisfied with his afternoon’s work. To put it simply, in Laas’ Ferei Quick-Panda Podium Mongolia outfit, the better team had won on the day.

“We could see that [Laas] still had four guys when we turned left with a kilometre to go, that is not easy for us,” he told 7Cycling ahead of the podium presentation.

“I lost my teammates with 1km to go and then I refound one - he brought me in the front. I think I was in the wheel of [Jakub] Mareczko and then I came with a lot of speed - but the finish line came too soon. I came as fast as the other guys I think but as always when you come from behind, you can come fast but sometimes win and sometimes lose.”

Reviewing the final kilometre with 7Cycling, Gate was quick to make the same appraisal of the Mongolian stage-winners.

“Fair play to Martin Laas, he got a good lead-out from his team, I sort of just had to try and piggyback on to them and get the jump on them,” he admitted. “He got the inside line off his teammate so fair play, he was set up well and even if I’d have got that inside line I don’t think I’d have won. He was flying down that finishing straight and I was just hanging on for dear life hoping that nobody would come past me in that last 200m.”

Their words were gleaming and from a replay of the final sprint, every word bares true. With strength in numbers, Ferei Quick-Panda Podium Mongolia were positioned well heading under the flamme rouge, as St-Michel-Mavic-Auber93 led the pack. At 600m to go, Laas was brought to the front by his teammate and compatriot Mihkel Räim, before unleashing his devastating sprint just 150m from the line.

It was a lead-out that ran like clockwork and as revealed by the stage winner, the plan had been sketched out from the very moment he first opened the race roadbook.

“I don’t know if we were the strongest but for sure we were the smartest,” he told 7Cycling when informed of his rivals’ praise. “I saw the roadbook and I saw that the final kilometre was slightly downhill with the last 150m being slightly flat, so I told my boys that at the left turn with 1km to go, we need to be in the top three or top four.

“We were a little bit far behind in fifth or sixth and then just at 600m to go, I told my last lead-out guy Mihkel it was time to go full gas and he just brought me to 150m to go - then I finished off the sprint.”

In hindsight, it all sounds quite simple for the 30-year-old sprinter, but as the experienced Dupont can attest to, even the best of plans can go awry when out on the road.

Speaking to 7Cycling at the beginning of the day in Qionghai, the 36-year-old had ruled out the idea of making the stage difficult for less versatile sprinters such as stage 1 winner, Jakub Mareczko (Corratec-Vini Fantini). The priority, Dupont insisted, was to survive the climb and the scorching temperatures - it was in the sprint finish that his legs could be put to use.

It was a surprise, then, to hear Dupont’s number called over the race radio shortly after the first intermediate sprint.

“Riders number 46 and 131 attack: gap to breakaway now 57 seconds, the peloton sits at 1 minute, 22 seconds back.”

A minute later, Andreas Miltiadis’ number was called, as the Terengganu rider joined Dupont and Manuele Tarozzi (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè) in a chase of the breakaway. With a wry smile on his face, Dupont ceded that this had been far from the plan for the veteran Belgian sprinter.

“It was in the heat of the moment,” he admitted. “The peloton had relaxed and I thought, ‘why not? I will try.’ Then I saw the guys of Astana Qazaqstan close the gap so they got a little bit scared I think!”

“On the climb, I was suffering a little bit, but at the end, I felt really confident and it was really easy until the final kilometre, so I am looking forward to the rest of the week.”

If this was a confidence builder for Dupont - and so too for Gate, who had planned to work for teammate, George Jackson - then it had been a resounding pat on the back for Laas and his Ferei Quick-Panda Podium Mongolia teammates. The Estonian has now won stages at the Tour de Banyuwangi Ijen, the Trans-Himalaya Cycling Race and the XDS Cup Tour of Hainan, all in the last five weeks.

Suffice it to say, Laas is enjoying his mid-season block of racing on the Asian continent and with a lead-out as impressive as he had on stage 2, it is no wonder.

“The secret to winning here, I don’t know,” he smiled. “There is no secret, I just enjoy the races, I enjoy the Asian roads and the weather is always good. We just enjoy the race and if you have fun, then you tend to get results.”