Double triumph for Jayco AlUla on stage 5 at Tour of Guangxi

Paul Double (Jayco AlUla) claimed the queen stage of the Tour of Guangxi with a decisive solo attack on the brutal final climb to Nongla. The Briton held off a late charge from Victor Lafay (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) to take his first WorldTour victory and move into the overall lead with one stage remaining.

It was a breakthrough ride for the 27-year-old, who also won the Tour of Slovakia earlier this season. On gradients hitting 15 percent in the final 1.5 kilometres, Double powered away from Mikkel Honoré (EF Education-EasyPost) and Ben Zwiehoff (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), while UAE’s Jan Christen came close but could not close the gap.

Lafay crossed the line second, with Jørgen Nordhagen and Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma | Lease a Bike) rounding out the top five behind Honoré.

The summit finish at Nongla always decides the general classification at the Tour of Guangxi, and the GC contenders were never going to allow the break too much leeway on stage 5, with UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in particular, keen to control affairs.

Shortly after the race was flagged away from a humid Yizhou, a six-man move featuring Simon Guglielmi (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Tom Paquot (Intermarché-Wanty), Ryan Gibbons (Lidl-Trek), Matthias Norsgaard (Movistar), Enzo Leijnse (Picnic-PostNL) and Haoyu Su (XDS-Astana) forged clear. 

Almost immediately, Julius Johansen came to the front of the bunch for UAE, and the Dane’s efforts would ensure the escapees remained on a tight leash for the long run north towards the striking karst hills around Nongla.

With 40km remaining, the gap stood at two minutes, while the break was down to just four riders. A shoot-out between the GC men on the final haul to Nongla was inevitable.

Up front, Su made one last bid for glory, attacking solo as the crowds thickened on the roadside, but his minute advantage melted away almost instantly once the road tilted skyward.

Double chose his moment perfectly, attacking from the reduced peloton with 3 kilometres to go. Only Honoré and Zwiehoff could initially follow, but when the gradient ramped up to double digits, Double rose from the saddle and went again.

Jan Christen tried to counter from behind, yet the Jayco AlUla rider never faltered, dancing on the pedals to the line to claim both the stage win and the leader’s jersey, a career-best performance on one of the toughest finishes in China.

The final stage to Dronten is expected to end in a sprint, leaving Double on the brink of overall victory in the 2025 Tour of Guangxi.