Deignan and Roche hold their own before Tour of Beijing mountains

HTC & Tony Martin at the head of affairs

Ireland’s Philip Deignan and Nicolas Roche have finished in the peloton on the second stage of the Tour of Beijing today, with the sprint finish being won by Australian Heinrich Haussler.

Both Irishmen enjoyed today’s calm before tomorrow’s storm, when the race moves into the mountains for the only stage in the five-day event that looks as if it could be tough enough to turn the general classification on its head.

The early breakaway today featured four riders: Igor Anton (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Dmitriy Muravyev (RadioShack), Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil), and Jiang Kun (Chinese National Team).

The group never built a lead greater than three minutes. When the HTC-Highroad team of yesterday’s TT winner and GC leader Tony Martin took up the chase, the group was absorbed setting it up for a sprint finish.

Tomorrow’s stage is a 162km run, featuring four categorised climbs; three of them first cat ascents.

The final 1^st category climb is crested just 12 kilometres from the finish in Yong Ming and will leave little time for any dropped rides to get back on.

Both Roche (Ag2r) and Deignan (RadioShack) are noted climbers and will be looking for a result at the end of what has been a mediocre year for both.

Landing a result is of particular importance for Roche, with the UCI ranking points up for grabs in China vital to his team remaining a top flight outfit for next year.