Photo: Courtesy of organizers

UAE Team Emirates rider Fernando Gaviria won the opening stage of the 2019 Tour of Guangxi cycling race in Beihai, South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Thursday.

The Colombian finished the 135.6-kilometer ride in the city streets with a time of two hours, 53 minutes and 32 seconds.

Pascal Ackermann of Bora-Hansgrohe was second at four seconds behind, while Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) rounded out the podium two seconds adrift of Ackermann. 

Gaviria was the biggest winner on Thursday, collecting three of the four jerseys on offer. He claimed the red jersey as the leader of the individual classification, the blue jersey as the leader of the sprint classification, as well as the white jersey for the best-performing young rider (born after January 1994).

The 25-year-old has a total of seven stage wins in cycling's Grand Tours to his name: two in the 2017 Tour de France, and five at the Giro d'Italia (four in 2017, one in 2019).

Trek-Segafredo's Irish rider Ryan Mullen won the blue jersey for King of Mountains.

The Guangxi tour is the 38th and final stage of the 2019 UCI (International Cycling Union) World Tour, with a total of six stages.

Friday's Stage 2 will be a 108.8-kilometer ride from Beihai to Qinzhou.

Photo: Courtesy of organizers

 

Photo: Courtesy of organizers

 

Photo: Courtesy of organizers