CYCLING

A bruised Patrick Bevin claims second behind Ewan in Korea

By Aaron S Lee

Avanti sprinters post results on second stage at Tour de Korea and move all three into top 10 overall.

MUJU, South Korea—A sore knee suffered during a crash-marred opening stage bunch sprint finish at Tour de Korea on Sunday was not a factor for reigning two-time Oceania road race champion Patrick Bevin (Avanti Racing Team) on Monday’s 174.4-kilometre race from Gumi to Muju that included two category 3 climbs.

The 24-year-old Kiwi sprinted to a close second-place finish behind Australian sensation Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge) and just ahead of stage 1 winner and overall race leader Wouter Wippert (Drapac Pro Cycling) to move into fourth on general classification, followed by Aussie teammates Anthony Giacoppo and Neil van der Ploeg, who finished slipped in to the top 10 at sixth and eighth respectively after taking fifth and 10th on the stage in reverse order.



“Those finishes are so hard and so fast and the wattages required are so huge,” an exhausted Bevin told NZ Bike after the race. “To come away with second today is a pretty good result for the team.”

All three Avanti sprinters were involved in the day one incident, with Bevin coming out worse of the lot with a bruised knee. According to team sports director Andrew Christie-Johnston, there was concern about Bevin’s health especially when the North Island native dropped back to the medic halfway through the race.

“We did see him drop back to the medic mid-stage which was a bit worrying when we did see it but at the end of the day, we are pretty happy with how the day unfolded,” Christie-Johnston told NZ Bike.

“Look, second to Caleb Ewan is obviously a good result after yesterday seeing the boys were caught up behind the crash. It was good to see us come out and fight and claim second, fifth and 10th.”

For Bevin, who had hoped to limp through the first hour of the stage, he admitted the fast start and 60kp/h bursts at 600 watts were taxing and put a strain on his injured knee.

However, about an hour in to the race, he claimed he came good and was ready to contribute to the sprint.

“It was up and down all day,” said Bevin. “The race wasn’t hard for a long time and then all of the sudden the gas was on and it was quite hard.

“But overall this result was good for me, and know now I have good climbing legs and hopefully some of the stages start to open up. As the days get harder and wind on, I’m only going to get better and the guys are riding really well.

“We have three really quick riders here which is really a blessing in a race like this,” he concluded. “So I am confident we are not done yet.”



The race continues on Wednesday and remains in Muju with a 99km stage 3 that consists of six 16.5km circuits.

Aaron S. Lee is a cycling and triathlon columnist for Eurosport and a guest contributor to NZ Bike Magazine.  Image Credit: KSO