Having recently completed his first grand tour, Sergey Chernetckii confirmed that he is a future contender for stage races when he finished fifth in the Tour of Beijing. The Russian stayed attentive on the final stage to secure his breakthrough result.

Russian rider Sergei Chernetckii took 5th place in the final general classification of the UCI WorldTour stage race Tour of Beijing. Chernetckii , supported by the whole Team Katusha, successfully completed the final stage of the race, not allowing his rivals to overtake him. Taking 13th position in the bunchsprint, Chernetckii has maintained his 5th place in overall classification of the Chinese race.

"I am happy with the fact I was able to hold the 5th place, this is a very good result, especially in a WorldTour race. I would like to thank the entire team for providing help and support not only today, but also during the whole race. I hope to improve my results in the next season," said Sergei Chernetckii.

"After yesterday’s mountain stage there were no big differences in the general classification, that’s why today the most important thing was the right team tactics which could allow us to defend our positions. In the morning before the start I discussed all stage details to achieve the maximum possible result. I am happy with the guys who did everything we asked of them. They did a very strong race. Our team was really impressive today – we tried to control our rivals, we held Sergei in the front and helped him at the intermediate sprint and we supported him in the final, helping him to find the best position ahead of his main rivals in GC. Today Katusha reached its objective and I am glad we end the season with such a nice result. The fifth place in the overall classification of a WorldTour race is a good performance for Sergei. He spent his first big race as a team leader, proving he can be the true leader," explained sports director of Team Katusha Gennady Mikhaylov.

The Tour of Beijing put the final point in the 2014 UCI WorldTour calendar. Team Katusha took 6th place in the final teams ranking with 938 points. The winner of the WorldTour was Movistar with 1440 points.

Alexander Kristoff was the best Katusha rider in the individual ranking with an 8th place and 321 points. Alejandro Valverde from Movistar is the final winner of the UCI WorldTour with 686 points.