ProTeam Joshua Giddings takes first professional victory at Tour of Taihu Lake

The youngsters are making their mark at Lotto-Intermarché. Just a few hours after Simone Gualdi (21) stepped onto the podium in Canada as the best young rider at the Grand Prix de Québec, Joshua Giddings (23) sprinted to his first professional victory on the other side of the world. Giddings, who recently impressed with second place in stage two of the Renewi Tour, was the fastest in the sprint between Nanjing and Tangshan after a stage of just 96 kilometres.

“We’re not used to racing like this at all”, Giddings says about the short stages that characterise the Tour of Taihu Lake. “But everyone stuck to the plan one hundred percent. We never panicked and never had to go on the defensive. I felt like we were really in control of the race: we were attentive at the front from the very beginning, raced aggressively throughout and also picked up points in the intermediate sprints along the way.”

Giddings could also count on his teammates in the finale. “I was positioned perfectly, was able to launch my sprint exactly how I wanted and take the win. I couldn’t have done this without the team. This is as much a team victory as it is an individual one.”

Giddings held off Italian Matteo Malucelli, who won two stages and the overall classification at the Tour of Taihu Lake last year. Australian Cameron Scott sprinted to third place.

Picture: Tour of Taihu Lake