Third overall and best climber of the Tour of Hainan, Julien El Fares (Marseille KTM-13) can be satisfied with the first half of his trip to China, before moving to the Tour of Taihu Lake (October 31 to November 8). 

"Obviously, our result from last year, with the final victory and two riders in the top 5 (Julien Antomarchi and himself, ed.) gave us the ambition of returning to Hainan," he told Cyclism'Actu. "But this time we had a little more focus on sprinting with Benjamin Giraud and Martin Laas. From the moment we had won a stage (the fifth with Giraud, ed.), we had a good balance. It remained then for Remy Di Gregorio and me to play our card on the climbs. I wasfocused on the polka dot jersey and I went for it on the first climbs (in the sixth stage). For the final victory, I would have liked to play Remy's card but he was not at his best yesterday. I still regret not staying with Zeits but he is a great rider. There's no shame in being beaten by him. I'm satisfied with what we have achieved here."