Max Stedman toasted his Tour of Quanzhou Bay triumph before targeting one final push for overall glory.
The 21-year-old soared to success on the queen stage of the UCI 2.2 Asia Tour contest in China, clinching the leader’s jersey in the process.
Having hit out halfway up the final climb in Anxi, the Crowthorne talent held on to beat Aussie Drew Morey by two seconds on the line.
Stedman now leads the Terengganu Cycling Team rider by six seconds in the general classification ahead of the 90.7km finale on Monday.
Meanwhile, Rory Townsend‘s stranglehold on the green points jersey continued with another supreme effort in the breakaway.
The third and final stage is flat but Stedman, Townsend, Harry Tanfield and James Lowsley-Williams know they face a huge day in the saddle if they are to complete overall victory in the Maritime Silk Road Art Park.
The former, celebrating his maiden UCI victory and first away from the velodrome since 2015, said:
“It’s taken me a while to win! Rory got up the road as planned and as per usual, so I just had to roll through in the group and do my little bit.
“I just had to go with the front of the race. I managed to do that and then halfway up the final climb I gave it a big old dig.
“I got to the front and then it was a slog to the finish. I’m really happy. It has been a brilliant couple of days for the team.
“We only have a slim gap but stage three is flat, so we will give it everything to bring home the win.”
Townsend had four riders for company in the day’s breakaway, which enjoyed an advantage of more than three minutes at one stage.
The 22-year-old had added 10 points to his green jersey tally by the time the peloton had been blown
