BEIJING, Oct 6, 2011 (AFP) – Australia’s Heinrich Haussler from the Garmin
team snatched victory in the second stage of the inaugural Tour of Beijing on
Thursday after a tight sprint finish.

Haussler chased down Denis Galimzyanov in the final meters of the 137km
ride to Mentougou, to the west of the Chinese capital, and eventually pipped
the Russian in a photo-finish.

“I’ve had a year with a lot of lows,” said Haussler afterwards.

“I hadn’t won since the Tour of Qatar (in February). I didn’t try and ride
in the Tour de France because I was thinking about the world championships.

“But I’ve been looking for form, and I wasn’t in the right shape at the
Tour of Spain. All I can do is take what I can at the end of the season, here
and then at the Sun Tour (in Australia).

“Next year, I’ll do the whole start of the season up to the classics. But I
think that I’ll ask to ride in the Tour.”

Germany’s Tony Martin (HTC) held on to the race leader’s red jersey, having
won the opening time-trial on Wednesday.

The race was opened up by a breakaway led by China’s Jiang Kun but
concluded in a sprint after the peloton regrouped with around 15 kilometers to
go.

Behind Haussler and Galimzynov, Dutchman Theo Bos took third place after
out-sprinting Italy’s Francesco Chicchi to the finish line.

Result of Thursday’s second stage of the Tour
of Beijing, a 137km ride from the Olympic Park to Mentougou:

1. Heinrich Haussler (AUS/GRM) 3hr 03min 30sec, 2. Denis Galimzyanov
(RUS/KAT) same time, 3. Theo Bos (NED/RAB) s.t., 4. Francesco Chicchi
(ITA/QST) s.t., 5. Alexander Kristoff (NOR/BMC) s.t., 6. Elia Viviani
(ITA/LIQ) s.t., 7. Davide Appollonio (ITA/SKY) s.t., 8. Giacomo Nizzolo
(ITA/LEO) s.t., 9. Manuele Mori (ITA/LAM) s.t., 10. Angel Madrazo (ESP/MOV)
s.t.

General classification:
1. Tony Martin (GER/HTC) 3hr 17min 03sec, 2. David Millar (GBR/GRM) at
17sec, 3. Alec Dowsett (GBR/SKY) 24, 4. Chris Froome (GBR/SKY) 26, 5. Stephen
Cummings (GBR/SKY) 35, 6. Olivier Kaisen (BEL/OLO) 39, 7. Luis Leon Sanchez
(ESP/RAB) 41, 8. Jean-Christophe Peraud (FRA/ALM) 43, 9. Andriy Grivko
(UKR/AST) 43, 10. Dario Cataldo (ITA/QST) 43
The race concludes on Sunday.