Italian climbing specialist wins Tour de Qinghai Lake 6th stage

Italian cyclist Marco Fertonani won his first stage at Tour de Qinghai lake Thursday in Menyuan after the 153km ride over undulating terrain from Xining to Menyuan, northwest China.

Marco Fertonani from Phonak Team of Switzerland, who performed fairly competitive at the previous stages, finally found his way at the mountainous course, where the riders had to conquer the Daban Mountain, climbing 30km to the highest point of the race, 3,792 meters in altitude.

Soon after the race started, Lai Kuan Hua from Giant Asia Cycling Team crashed on the roadside, suffering a scratch on the left arm and a slight cerebral concussion. He was picked up by the ambulance and received an emergent treatment. The team manager said that the injury was not serious.

Fortunately, other riders were not affected by the accident.

Four of them tried a breakaway before the hot sprint, but were swallowed up by the pursuing peloton when the climbing started.

Fertonani, 28, then bursted at the climbing course and led the main bunch till the very end, clocking three hours 57 minutes and 41 seconds.

"We are happy that we could win the stage." said Rene Savary, teammate of Fertonani, "but it is impossible for us to catch up with the Navigators, because we made a mistake in the preparation."

The remaining 91 riders will come up against another tough course tomorrow from Menyuan to Huzhu, with 15km to climb from 2,400 meters in altitude to 3,400 meters.