Astana is slowly getting back into the rhythm of competition in the Tour of Hainan. The team will focus on Ruslan Tleubayev in the bunch sprints before they will play their climbing cards on the queen stage.

“We will work for Ruslan every day in the sprint," Astana sports director Jaan Kirsipuu said after stage two at the Tour of Hainan – from Chengmai resort into capital city Haikou. "Dyachenko, Zeits and Kamyshev look really sharp, and we will be ready on stage seven to race for the General Classification."

Ruslan Tleubayev finished eighth in a mass sprint won by Nicolo Bonifazzio from Italy. All Astana Pro Team riders finished in the same time ahead of Wednesday’s stage three.

Tleubayev arrived in Hainan only on the night before the first stage of competition, due to visa requirements, and is adjusting to time and temperature differences quickly.

Tuesday’s stage began on the shores of the Nandu river in Chengmai, home to Hainan island’s television and radio program production offices and coffee plantations, and climbed mid-stage to a plateau before descending to the seacoast and the busy Haikou metropolis.