Today Belkin's impressive streak of ten straight wins in the Tour of Hainan was broken when Moreno Hofland could only manage sixth in the sprint on stage 2. However, the young Dutchman was pleased to get rid of the leader's jersey.

The Belkin Pro Cycling TEAM’s supremacy in the Tour of Hainan came to an abrupt end on Tuesday after ten straight stage wins. Italian Niccolo Bonifazio of team Lampre-Merida triumphed in the second stage and took over Moreno Hofland’s overall and points jersey. 

Hofland picked up the overall victory last year after collecting three stage wins. Theo Bos claimed the other six stages. Hofland, who won yesterday, placed sixth behind Bonifazio. 

“I had to start my sprint too early,” said the Dutchman after the stage from Chengmai to Haikou. “I was a little bit too far back in the last corner and I tried to move up. But it didn’t go as planned. I had to go too early. I chose the right side of the road while the others were sprinting on the left. They were faster than me today. It feels good to let the jersey go though.”
 

“Today was the longest stage of the week,” said Sports Director Michiel Elijzen. “We had to tackle 207 kilometres. After 35 kilometres, a break of four went clear. They took a twelve-minute lead. Several teams tried to close the gap. We had Nick van der Lijke helping to chase the breakaway.” 

The peloton caught the leaders with thirty kilometres remaining.

“Until the line, everything stayed together,” continued Elijzen. “Moreno finished sixth in the end. After having won ten stages in a row, we are now defeated, unfortunately.”