Tour of Guangxi 2026 – Stage 4 [FULL STAGE]

October 16, 2026

7th Tour of Guangxi 2026 🇨🇳 (2.UWT) ME – Stage 4 – Bama – Tian’e : 165,7 km

Tour of Guangxi is a UCI WorldTour multi-stage road race across the varied landscapes of southern China, combining flat urban roads, rolling countryside and demanding climbs through the karst hills of Guangxi. The race typically features six stages, with distances varying from shorter circuit races to longer road stages of around 200 km. Most roads are paved and fast, while the hillier sections introduce sustained ascents, often featuring gradients of 5–8% and steeper ramps above 10%. Technical descents, narrow roads and frequent changes of gradient demand careful positioning and precise bike handling. Warm temperatures, high humidity and occasional heavy rain can increase the physical demands and affect road conditions. Breakaways often form early, while the peloton controls the pace on flatter stages before sprint teams organize the chase. Mountain stages can split the field into smaller groups, with climbers and all-rounders gaining opportunities to attack. Finishes range from bunch sprints to uphill battles and reduced-group conclusions.

A day after losing the race lead to a mechanical incident in the sprint, Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) reclaimed the Tour of Guangxi red jersey with a fine sprint victory in Tian’e as the fast men survived the hilly day and a late crash.

The Frenchman – who won every single sprint stage at this race last year for a five-victory haul – has had his supremacy challenged this year, winning on the opening day but then beaten twice in a row, but he was back to his best on Friday.

He outpowered Decathlon CMA CGM’s Cees Bol to the line, sprinting in place of Olav Kooij, with Max Kanter (XDS Astana) coming up in third.

A big crash on one of the late corners saw a lot of riders taken out of contention, with only a reduced group coming to the line. Magnier took to the front of the sprint early and had a long effort to the line, but kept his speed and power for a good 150 metres to hold off his rivals and claim the win.

With his victory, Magnier goes back into the race lead, leapfrogging stage 2 winner Frits Biesterbos (Picnic PostNL) who finished fourth on the day.

“I’m super happy, especially because today was a really hard day,” Magnier said.

“I want to thank my teammates and the team for their confidence. I was dropped earlier in the stage, but I managed to get back to the bunch and refocus on the final sprint. My lead-out did a great job again, and I could launch my sprint and finish it off. It feels really good to be winning again and to take back the overall lead.”

Featuring over 2,700m of climbing, stage 4 from Bama to Tian’e was not a nailed-on sprint, with plenty of opportunities for attacks, but whilst those attacks did come and plenty of riders tried to catch the sprinters out, the sprint squads worked hard to keep things together and bring a big bunch to the line in Tian’e.

A similar parcours is on the menu on Saturday, a day that is hilly early on but survivable for the sprinters, before the hilltop finish on Sunday should decide the general classification at this edition of the Tour of Guangxi.

Results :