With four stage wins and an overall second place, Lampre-Merida hava had a highly successful Tour of Hainan. However, the team came up short in the final stage when they underestimated the early breakaway and had to settle for sixth with Roberto Ferrari.

Lampre-Merida have ended their season with a second place for Niccolo Bonifazio at the Tour of Hainan. The team returns from China with four stage wins, several top results, the points jersey for Bonifazio and the excellent second place for the young Italian, 22 seconds behind overall winner Julien Antomarchi. Manuele Mori finished 7th.

The final stage won by Wouter Wippert who managed to hold off the peloton by a few metres along with three fellow escapees. The break was established after 20km of racing. With no rider dangerous for the GC, Antomarchi's team was not interested in the chase which was led almost exclusively by Lampre-Merida through efforts of Matteo Bono, Xu Gang, Mori and Andrea Palini.

In the final battle where Lampre-Merida supported Roberto Ferrari for the sprint, they managed to stay away by a few metres. Ferrari had to settle for sixth.

"I think we have underestimated the breakaway a little bit", regretted Niccolo Bonifazio who will however remain as the big revelation of the Tour of Hainan, having bagged three stage wins and the points classification. "In the last few kilometers, the guys at the front rode really strongly. During the stage, we shared the turns with La Pomme Marseille and we did all the work at the end but it was still not enough. "
 

"The Tour of Hainan was a race to discover for us as this was our first time here," sports director Simone Pedrazzini said. "We ahieved lots of success thanks to the great talent of our young people and an impeccable teamwork. 

"It is not easy to control a race with only six riders and this gives the victories a certain value, increased by the fact that the successes were achieved by young talented riders."