With the opening five stages all decided in bunch sprints, the battle for the red leader’s jersey came down to the final climb. Widar finished the race nine seconds ahead of Pidcock, with Louis Barré taking third place overall, 16 seconds behind the winner. Marco Brenner and Martin Tjøtta completed the top five.
Widar gets the better of Pidcock on Nongla climb
The 166-kilometre final stage from Yizhou to Nongla Scenic Spot featured the decisive climb of the race. After five days dominated by the sprinters, Sunday’s finale finally gave the climbers their opportunity. The closing kilometres, with gradients reaching double figures, pushed the riders to their limits.
An early breakaway initially shaped the stage, but the favourites increased the pace in the closing kilometres and reeled in the remaining escapees. A series of attacks then reduced the leading group to just a handful of riders.
Young Dane Peter Øxenberg launched an attack around 1.6 kilometres from the finish, hoping to catch his rivals off guard. He held his advantage until approximately 350 metres to go. With 300 metres remaining, Louis Barré raised the pace, and only Pidcock and Widar were able to follow.
Pidcock accelerated again in the closing metres, but Widar had the stronger finish. The Belgian surged past the Briton to win in 3:39:05, crossing the line six seconds clear. Barré finished ten seconds behind the winner, with Brenner arriving another second later.
Just days after recording his first professional victory at Tre Valli Varesine, Widar celebrated his maiden WorldTour stage win and his first overall triumph at the highest level of professional cycling.
Magnier and Fretin share the sprint spoils
Before the decisive finish in Nongla, the Tour of Guangxi had belonged to the sprinters. Paul Magnier opened the race with victory in Chongzuo, continuing his remarkable record in the event after winning five of the six stages in 2025.
Stage two produced a surprise winner in Frits Biesterbos. The Dutch rider from Picnic PostNL beat Magnier and Olav Kooij in the sprint to claim his first professional victory. It was also his team’s first WorldTour win of the season.
Milan Fretin took the honours on stage three, covering the 212.3 kilometres from Jingxi to Bama before emerging victorious in the sprint. Magnier was unable to contest the finish properly after his foot slipped out of the pedal, allowing Biesterbos to move into the overall lead.
Magnier responded immediately. On a demanding fourth stage featuring around 2,700 metres of climbing, the Frenchman claimed another victory and regained the red jersey. It was his seventh Tour of Guangxi stage win, making him the race’s outright record holder ahead of Fernando Gaviria, who had previously held the mark with six victories.
The fifth stage went to Fretin, who completed his own double. Magnier and Max Kanter crashed during the finale, but the Frenchman retained the overall lead heading into the decisive mountain finish.
Just nine seconds separate the top two
Widar completed the six stages in a total time of 22:22:45, finishing nine seconds ahead of Pidcock and 16 seconds clear of Barré.
The overall classification remained remarkably tight behind the podium places. Marco Brenner finished fourth at 21 seconds, with Martin Tjøtta just one second further back. Juan Ayuso took sixth place at 26 seconds, followed by Jhonatan Narváez at 29 seconds.
The next three riders were also closely matched. Afonso Eulálio and Clément Braz Afonso both finished 31 seconds down, while Maxim Van Gils completed the top ten with a deficit of 33 seconds.
With only 33 seconds separating the overall winner from the rider in tenth place, the final ascent to Nongla proved decisive in determining the outcome of the race.
Magnier takes points jersey, Widar adds young rider title
Alongside the overall title, Widar also secured the young rider classification. His Lotto-Intermarché team had another reason to celebrate, with Baptiste Veistroffer winning the mountains classification on 46 points, well ahead of Peter Øxenberg on 20.
The points classification went to Paul Magnier. The Frenchman collected 40 points, finishing ahead of Frits Biesterbos and Max Kanter, who both scored 32. Milan Fretin followed in fourth place with 30 points.
Netcompany INEOS won the team classification. Across the six days of racing, the peloton covered just over 1,040 kilometres.
The victory in China marks another important step in Widar’s development. After impressing in under-23 races and making his Grand Tour debut, the Belgian has now demonstrated his ability to win a stage race at WorldTour level. By claiming both the final stage and the overall title in Guangxi, Widar brought his first professional season to a close with the biggest success of his career to date.
