Tour of Beijing: Martin wins overall, Galimzyanov final sprint

Denis Galimzyanov sprinted to win the Tour of Beijing's final stage outside the Olympic stadium, where Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad) confirmed his overall win.

"I really didn't plan on winning the time trial," Martin said. "I wanted to come to Beijing to see a new country, but with the lead, I wanted to defend it."

Martin won the Tour of Algarve and the Paris-Nice stage races earlier this year. His next and last race this season - and for HTC-Highroad - is the Chrono des Nations time trial.

The final Tour of Beijing stage started in the heart of Beijing, in Tian'anmen Square and travelled north to the home of the 2008 Olympics. The riders closed the stage with 12 circuits around the Bird's Nest stadium and the Water Cube swimming facility, 118 kilometres in total.

Four days ago in the same location, Martin, David Millar (Garmin-Cervélo) and Alex Dowsett (Sky) dominated the day. Martin won the opening time trial stage by 17 seconds over Millar. He defended that lead over two demanding mid-mountain stages, including Friday's stage when Sky's Chris Froome went on the attack.

Galimzyanov, though, ruled the day today. The 24 year-old Russian of team Katusha won Paris-Brussels last month and had been knocking on victory's door in China. He sprinted clear of Juan José Haedo (Saxo Bank-SunGard) and yesterday's winner, Elia Viviani (Liquigas-Cannondale).

Katusha led in the final kilometres, but was pushed aside by Haedo's Saxo Bank team. Galimzyanov took advantage of their and Rabobank's work to win the stage.

"I'm happy, this is my first win in a ProTour [WorldTour] race," he Galimzyanov said. "The team did a great job, it was important that they put me in the wheels of the sprinters.

Galimzyanov also won the green points jersey thanks to his consistency.

"The green jersey is a bonus," he added. "I just wanted the stage.

Sky won the best team award thanks to Froome's third place and Steve Cummings' fourth place overall.

Results

Tour of Beijing 2011, stage five: Tian An Men Square to Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium, 118km

1. Denis Galimzyanov (Rus) Katusha in 2-19-44

2. Juan Jose Haedo (Arg) Saxo Bank-Sungard

3. Elia Viviani (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale

4. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Quick Step

5. Davide Appollonio (Ita) Sky

6. Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Quick Step

7. Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Garmin-Cervelo

8. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Leopard-Trek

9. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) BMC Racing

10. Sebastien Hinault (Fra) Ag2r La Mondiale all same time

Final overall classification

1. Tony Martin (Ger) HTC-Highroad in 13-39-11

2. David Millar (GBr) Garmin-Cervelo at 17 secs

3. Chris Froome (GBr) Sky at 26 secs

4. Steve Cummings (GBr) Sky at 35 secs

5. Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto at 39 secs

6. Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Rabobank at 41 secs

7. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Ag2r at 43 secs

8. Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana at 43 secs

9. Dario Cataldo (Ita) Quick Step at 43 secs

10. Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quick Step at 46 secs

Peloton pass the Bird's Nest stadium

Early escape group

Race winner Tony Martin

Denis Galimzyanov takes the stage win and green jersey

Tour of Beijing 2011: Related links

Stage four: Viviani tops Beijing's Great Wall stage

Stage three: Roche wins

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Stage two: Haussler bounces back with Beijing win

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Stage one: Martin holds off British charge to win Beijing time trial

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