Moreno Hofland won the opening stage of the Tour of Hainan but since then he has been unable to make an impact in the sprints. Today Belkin decided to play the Barry Markus card and the fast Ducthman got close to a win by finishing second.

Barry Markus came close to victory in China’s Tour of Hainan stage six today in Dongfang. The Dutch sprinter of the Belkin Pro Cycling TEAM, after 182 kilometres from Sanya, lost to Italian Niccolo Bonifazio (Lampre-Merida).

“Unfortunately, I got boxed in a little bit by some Lampre rider,” Markus said, indicating that a win was within reach. 

“This should give the guys some confidence,” said Sports Director Michiel Elijzen. 

Elijzen is hoping for more than just Moreno Hofland’s victory in the opening stage this week. He added, “The morale is still high.” 

Friday’s stage got off to an hasty start.

“During the first hour, the men completed fifty kilometres,” Elijzen said. “After 65 kilometres, five men attacked. They picked up a maximum lead of four minutes. The final breakaway rider was caught with three kilometres to go. 

“Barry sprinted to second place afterwards, but unfortunately, Bonifazio was faster.”

“It looks like Moreno isn’t as good as last year”, he noted. “So we tried with Barry. We didn’t win but his second place is better than what we’ve achieved those past few days.”

The classification riders will have their chance on Sunday. Elijzen said, “Hopefully Nick van der Lijke and Tom Leezer feel good.”