Wang Meiyin (Hengxiang) became a surprise overall leader of the Tour of Hainan when he scored bonus seconds in the intermediate sprints on stage 3. The home rider will do his utmost to honour the Chinese people by defending his position atop the leaderboard.

Hengxiang’s Wang Meiyin was over the moon as he took the yellow jersey over from Niccolo Bonifazio of Lampre-Merida at Yueliangwan (literally “The Moon Bay”). His victory in the second intermediate sprint led him to the first position overall, as none of the top 3 previous highest ranked riders, Bonifazio, Andrea Palini and Moreno Hofland, managed to score on the finish line where Arman Kamyshev from Kazakhstan emerged as stage 3 winner of the ninth Tour of Hainan. So after three stages, all three Pro Teams in contention (Belkin, Lampre-Merida and Astana) have bagged a success.

“One kilometer away from that intermediate sprint point, about twenty riders had broken away and started to fight for time bonus”, Wang explained. “Very few of them remained behind me when I accelerated and I was lucky to gain the time bonus [three seconds, added to nine seconds he collected in the three intermediate sprints in stage 2]. It’s not only an honor for me but it’s an honor for Chinese people that I’m wearing the yellow jersey in such a big race. Now I want to retain the lead with the help of my team in order to make Chinese people even prouder.”

This is not the first time Wang leads an Asia Tour H.C. event. Last year he led Le Tour de Langkawi for two days after winning the legendary stage to the Cameron Highlands and he finished the Malaysian race fifth overall.