Luca Covili and Alex Tolio finished fifth and sixth respectively on stage five of the Tour of Magnificent Qinghai, covering 135.5 kilometres from Guide to Gonghe in cold and rainy conditions.

The race was split on the long climb during the first part of the route. Covili and Tolio remained with the main chasing group, while Christian Bagatin launched the decisive attack with 36 kilometres remaining.

Bagatin claimed a solo victory. Jonathan Klever Caicedo finished second and became the new race leader, while Eduardo Sepúlveda completed the podium. Covili and Tolio crossed the line 1’19” behind the winner.

Tolio moves up to fifth place in the general classification, 36 seconds behind the leader.

STAGE 5 RESULTS

1st Christian Bagatin (MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort) 3h21’39”
2nd Jonathan Klever Caicedo (WheelTop Rotor Chengdu Team) at 1’03”
3rd Eduardo Sepúlveda (Li Ning Star) at 1’19”
4th Darren Van Bekkum (XDS Astana Team) same time
5th Luca Covili (Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber) same time
6th Alex Tolio (Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber) same time
7th Fernando Tercero (Team Polti VisitMalta) same time
8th Eric Antonio Fagúndez (Burgos Burpellet BH) same time
9th Henok Mulubrhan (XDS Astana Team) same time
10th Jan Castellon (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) same time

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1st Jonathan Klever Caicedo (WheelTop Rotor Chengdu Team) 19h09’56”
2nd Jan Castellon (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) at 9”
3rd Henok Mulubrhan (XDS Astana Team) at 21”
4th Eric Antonio Fagúndez (Burgos Burpellet BH) at 32”
5th Alex Tolio (Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber) at 36”
6th Fernando Tercero (Team Polti VisitMalta) at 2’28”
7th Eduardo Sepúlveda (Li Ning Star) at 3’55”