Race: Tour de Taiwan, Stage 1 Start/Finish: Taipei City (circuit), Taiwan Distance: 52 kilometers Taipei City, Taiwan — Tour de Taiwan began today with a short stage through downtown Taipei City. The 10.4-km circuit included five laps and three intermediate sprints over the incredibly fast stage. Though the racing didn’t reach its full momentum until the…

Race: Tour de Taiwan, Stage 2 Start/Finish: Taoyuan City to Jiaobanshan Park, Taiwan Distance: 119 kilometers Overview: Following yesterday’s fast circuit stage, the second stage featured the Tour de Taiwan’s first mountaintop finish and plenty of climbing over a 119-km course. However, it was pouring rain that was the most notable feature of today’s race. Treacherous…

Race: Tour de Taiwan, Stage 3 Start/Finish: Baguashan Buddha (Circuit), Taiwan Distance: 130 kilometers Overview: Stage 3 of the Tour de Taiwan greeted riders with much more favorable weather conditions than yesterday’s torrential downpour. About 10-km into the race, a break of several racers broke clear on the first climb, The small group was quickly caught,…

Race: Tour de Taiwan, Stage 4 Start/Finish: Sun Moon Lake to Tataka, Taiwan Distance: 102.8 kilometers Tataka, Taiwan — Wednesday’s Queen stage at the Tour de Taiwan featured the most challenging profile of the race with over 60 kilometers of climbing packed into a 102.8-km route. Even the small climbs situated in the first 30-km caused…

Race: Tour de Taiwan, Stage 5 Start/Finish: Jianshanpi Resort/Dapeng Bay National Scenic Area, Taiwan Distance: 177.6 kilometers Dapeng Bay National Scenic Area, Taiwan — Racing was fast from the gun in the fifth and final stage of the Tour de Taiwan. Several early attacks were all well marked, and it took nearly two hours for a…