US Navigators keep yellow jersey all along at Tour de Qinghai Lake
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-07-26 10:34

Phillip Zajicek from the Navigators Cycling of the United States held on the yellow jersey till the end of the Tour de Qinghai Lake in Xining on Sunday, while his teammate Viktar Rapinski grabed the green jersey at the epilogue stage of the race, making the Navigators the biggest winner.

Phillip Zajicek, reserving an unshakable advantage of two minutes three seconds at the overall individual time classification before the 9th stage, was protected by his teammates at the 109.5km circuit race around Xining, the capital city of Qinghai Province, Northwest China, crossing the finish line with the main bunch.

"I am very excited. I have been training in Colorado to get ready for the high altitude." said Zajicek, 25, "My teammates are amazing. We did a great job together. I hope to come back next year."

The Navigators team obtained the yellow jersey at the first stage and has left no chance for the other riders to take it during the following eight stages.

Edward Beamon, the team manager concluded the secret of Navigators' win as "good teamwork" and "good preparation".

"The six guys in the team has been very coordinated and workingvery well together." said Beawon, "We did some races at fairly good altitude, about 1000 meters, and some of the guys trained at around 2000 meters.

"My assistant came here last year, so we know what it is like here and how to prepare for it. An American won the race at the first edition, so we know what to expect here."

The 23-year-old sprinter Rapinski, showed his strength both at the prologue and epilogue of the race, winning another bunch sprint to snatch the green jersey for the best sprinter from Iglinskiy Maxim of Kazakstan.

Mizbani Ghader from Giant Asian Racing team, have won the other two jerseys, the red jersey for the best climber and the blue jersey for the best Asian rider.

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