stoke on trent, tour series, criterium, british cycling, cycling racing, halfords, canditv, halfords, downing, hayles, elliott, wilkinson, tennant
Nigel Wynn
By Nigel Wynn
published

Dean Downing has won stage five of the seven-day Tour of Taiwan (March 14-20). The British Rapha-Condor-Sharp rider came out on top after 157.3 kilometres of racing in Miaoli County in the west of the country.

Downing beat stage three and four winner Takashi Miyazawa (Japan) in the bunch sprint after a tough day's riding that featured two first category climbs on the race's longest stage.

"The Hong Kong team did a lot of attacking today and the race was very fast," Downing said after his win.

"But it was perfect for me and in the last 250 metres, I rode off the rider from CCC and went in for the finish. I thought it was not going to be enough but when I saw the line, I knew that I had made it."

Irishman David McCann, riding for the Giant Asia Racing Team, leads the UCI 2.2-ranked race overall. McCann won the opening stage of the race and has held on to the lead since. Downing is seventh overall, 35 seconds adrift of McCann.

American Philip Gaimon (Kenda) is second on general classification at eight seconds, with Australian William Clarke (Genesys Wealth Advisers) third at 11 seconds.

Downing's win has bumped him up to second place in the tour's points classification behind double stage winner Miyazawa.

After Friday's penultimate stage from Taipei City to Shihsanhan, the 2010 Tour of Taiwan concludes on Saturday, March 20, with a 60 kilometre criterium around Taipei. The Tour of Taiwain is part of the Union Cyliste Internationale's Asia Tour race calendar.

Rapha-Condor-Sharp's line-up in Taiwan consists of Downing, Graham Briggs, Matt Cronshaw, Ben Greenwood and Dean Windsor.

Related links

Wednesday's British news round-up

Dean Downing: Rider Profile

Rapha-Condor-Shar: Team Profile

External links

Tour of Taiwan: Official website

Cycling Weekly subscription thin

Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Nigel Wynn
Nigel Wynn
Former Associate Editor

Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed. 

Latest