South Africa’s Marc Pritzen finished seventh in the final bunch sprint on the 166.6km fourth stage of the Tour de Taiwan at the Xianshan Visitor Center today.
Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling’s James Piccoli won the race in 3:58:21, beating Floyd’s Pro Cycling’s Jonathan Clarke and Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM’s Etienne van Empel to the line.
South African cyclists riding among the peloton during stage four of the Tour de Taiwan today. Photo: facebook.com/Tour-De-Taiwan
Clarke moved into the overall lead in a time of 12:17:54, six seconds clear of Piccoli, who jumped 20 places after today’s stage win.
Pritzen also jumped 20 places on the GC with his top-10 placing.
SA’s Eddie van Heerden unfortunately crashed and broke his wrist in today’s stage. He was only 10 seconds down on the overall leader and crashed after launching an attack.
This put an end to his race, almost a repeat of last year’s event where he also led the team and crashed out.
View more results below.
Stage four
1. James Piccoli (Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling) 3:58:21
2. Jonathan Clarke (Floyd’s Pro Cycling)
3. Etienne van Empel (Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM)
4. Scott Bowden (Team BridgeLane)
5. Hideto Nakane (Nippo Vini Fantini Faizanè)
6. Nariyuki Masuda (Japan)
7. Marc Pritzen (South Africa)
8. Jesse Ewart (Team Sapura Cycling)
9. Masakazu Ito (Nippo Vini Fantini Faizanè)
10. Chun Kai Feng (Taiwan)
*Selected
50. Gustav Basson (South Africa) 0:12:32
62. Travis Barrett (South Africa) 0:12:42
71. Jan Montshioa (South Africa) 0:13:00
91. Jason Oosthuizen (South Africa) 0:15:52
General classification
1. Jonathan Clarke (Floyd’s Pro Cycling) 12:17:54
2. James Piccoli (Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling) 0:00:06
3. Etienne van Empel (Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM) 0:00:12
4. Nathan Earle (Israel Cycling Academy)
5. Chun Kai Feng (Taiwan) 0:00:16
6. Jesse Ewart (Team Sapura Cycling)
7. Edmund Bradbury (Memil-CCN Pro Cycling)
8. Daniel Jaramillo (Manzana Postobon)
9. Markus Freiberger (Team Hrinkow Advarics Cycleang)
10. Cristian Raileanu (Team Sapura Cycling)
*Selected
29. Marc Pritzen (South Africa) 0:01:13
49. Gustav Basson (South Africa) 0:13:15
73. Travis Barrett (South Africa) 0:34:00
86. Jan Montshioa (South Africa) 0:39:00
87. Jason Oosthuizen (South Africa) 0:39:45
