Kennaugh considers new emphasis on one-day races in 2019
18 October 2018 09:54
"It's a long way to come to just sit in the peloton the whole week," said Pete Kennaugh of the Tour of Guangxi, and the Manxman was as good as his word on the opening stage in Beihai, clipping off the front on the final climb in the company of his former Sky teammate Gianni Moscon. Their brief raid was, predictably enough, snuffed out by the sprinters' teams on the rapid run-in to the finish, but it was a statement of Kennaugh's intentions and outlook this week in China. After turning a trying debut season at Bora-Hansgrohe on its head with a series of fine displays in recent weeks, Kennaugh will look to continue his upward trajectory in the final days of the campaign in Guangxi, mindful that a dash of motivation can take a man a long, long way at this point in the year. "A lot of the guys who are at this race are either mentally done in at the end of the season or they're coming back from injury or something, so it's a good opportunity for me," Kennaugh told Cyclingnews in Nanning on Thursday.ADVERTISEMENT "It was good to get the win with Pascal Ackermann [on stage 2] and in those conditions as well. And tomorrow [the uphill finish at Nongla on Friday - ed.], we'll see what happens and take it from there." Given his form and his pedigree, Kennaugh ought to be among the contenders on the short climb to the finish at Nongla on stage 4, where Tim Wellens sealed final overall victory in the maiden Tour of Guangxi a year ago. "I don't know much about it really, only the results from last year," Kennaugh said. "It's the only sort of hilly stage in the race so I'll obviously try something but I'm not really sure what kind of riders it's suited to - maybe the Classics kind of guys, who have a bit of a punch and who aren't too heavy." A one-day future?
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