Benjamin Giraud of Marseille 13-KTM outsprinted race leader Sacha Modolo at the end of a very demanding finale in stage 5 of the tenth Tour of Hainan. The Frenchman is highly regarded in Asia as he already won stages at the Tour of Qinghai Lake, the Tour de Taiwan and the Tour of China. As defending champions after Julien Antomarchi’s overall victory last year, the squad from the Mediterranean city aims for more.

“This is a great win”, Giraud reacted in Qiongzhong, a cycling friendly city in the centre of the island where an international cyclo-cross was organized for the first time at the end of August this year. “Beating a rider like Modolo with the palmarès he’s got is beautiful. Finishing third yesterday, I felt I had the victory in the legs. I got confirmation of my good feelings when I won the first intermediate sprint today. The finale was exactly what I like the most with a false flat section to sprint for the win.”

Modolo kept the lead in the overall ranking but after stage 5 he’s well aware of the threats by Astana and Marseille 13-KTM who obviously have ambitions on GC.

“Personally, I don’t think I’m able to win the Tour of Hainan”, Giraud said, “but I’d like to grab another stage win and we’ll play our cards for GC with other riders. However, after seeing Astana riding today, it’ll be difficult for us to get a back to back overall victory but the spectacle will be great on stage 8 for sure.”