Earlier this year, a severe cold nearly prevented Taiwan’s Action Cycling Team rider Feng Junkai from competing. But the 23-year-old, once given the green light yesterday, immediately broke away to successfully secure the first mountain point with 6 points. Although he still trails Meredith’s 9 points overall, with Meredith wearing the yellow jersey, Feng Junkai will don the polka-dot jersey today as a replacement.
Talking about his illness experience, Feng Junkai shook his head and said, “It was terrifying. Not only did I perform poorly at the Asian Championships in February, but I was also hospitalized for a week due to pneumonia. It wasn’t until 10 days ago that my condition improved, and even the doctors weren’t sure if I was fully recovered.”
As the home team rider, Feng Junkai didn’t want to miss the chance to perform in front of the local crowd. Unfortunately, his stamina and muscular endurance haven’t fully returned to peak condition. Yesterday, he crossed the finish line with the main group in 2 hours, 52 minutes and 07 seconds.
“Right now, I’ve only recovered about 60–70%. Especially since my lactate metabolism is too slow, which makes it hard to adjust my stamina,” said Feng Junkai. He attempted to break away after the race started, but the peloton didn’t chase him down. When the lead gap extended to 1 minute and 23 seconds, he decided to go for the first mountain point points — a beautiful mistake.
Feng Junkai said he’s competing without pressure this time, as his overall condition isn’t ideal. He’ll play a supporting role, hoping to help his junior teammate Hsiao Shih-hsin win the best young rider title.
Wu Bowhung from the sprint-specialized Action Cycling-Merida team currently ranks 31st on the overall rider leaderboard with a time of 4 hours, 16 minutes and 35 seconds, placing first among domestic riders and trailing the leader Meredith by 2 minutes and 02 seconds.
Wu Bowhung said he lost 7 kilograms after the Guangzhou Asian Games and has maintained a good condition. In terms of tactics, he stays within the main group during climbing sections and will try to break away when opportunities arise. His goal is to win a stage victory at either Stage 7 (Chiayi to Kaohsiung) or Stage 8 (Taitung to Hualien), where the road conditions are not too hilly.