Rui Costa went into the Tour of Beijing as one of the major favourites. Today he proved himself worthy of the status when he finished third in the shortened stage 2 to gain 4 important bonus seconds.

Going into the race, the Tour of Beijing was tipped to be a battle between Rui Costa and Dan Martin. Today the Portuguese won the first battle when he finished third in the uphill sprint on stage 2 while the his rival could only manage fifth.

The result earned him four bonus seconds and he now goes into the two hardest stages of the race in third overall, 7 seconds behind new leader Philippe Gilbert.

"It  was a difficult day, especially due to the cold," he said. "My legs were hard and it was not easy to be strong in the sprint at the end of a short and cold stage. Now I'm in the top three of the standings. My goal is to try to give my best to stay near the top of the final standings in this Chinese race."