Modolo of Italy's Bardiani-CSF team (center) celebrates victory by spraying champagne after winning the stage.
On the 14th, the 12th Tour of Qinghai Lake International Road Cycling Race entered its cross-provincial stage under light rain. Modolo of Italy's Bardiani-CSF team won the stage, while Mirsamad Pourseyedi of Iran's Tabriz Petrochemical Team continued to wear the yellow jersey and also clinched the title of this year’s “King of the Mountains” ahead of schedule.
The stage covered the route from Qilian County in Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, to Zhangye City, Gansu Province, spanning 201 kilometers. It featured two sprint points, one Category 3 climb, and one Category 1 (highest difficulty) climb. Starting with this stage, riders left the Tibetan Plateau behind and began cycling through the lower-altitude regions of Gansu and Ningxia. Entering Gansu marked the third consecutive year that the Tour of Qinghai Lake included a cross-provincial leg.
After winning the stage, Modolo retained the green jersey. The yellow jersey holder, Mirsamad Pourseyedi, also kept both the polka-dot jersey (King of the Mountains) and the blue jersey. By the end of this stage, Pourseyedi had extended his lead in the King of the Mountains classification to 7 points over second-placed rider Alizadeh. With only five more stages remaining and just one more major climb among them, Alizadeh could at most close the gap by 3 points, meaning Pourseyedi had already secured the title of this year’s “King of the Mountains.”
Riders took a rest day on the 15th. With the remaining stages at lower altitudes, they can now enjoy the race with relatively less physical strain.