GUILIN, South China, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Dylan Groenewegen of Lotto.NL-Jumbo won the fifth stage of the 2017 Gree UCI WorldTour Tour of Guangxi on Monday as the Dutch rider edged Colombian cycling star Fernando Gaviria in the last kilometer of the race, while Lotto Soudal's Tim Wellens still kept the red jersey with one stage left.

The fifth and penultimate stage of the inaugural Tour of Guangxi was a 217km race from Liuzhou to Guilin, the longest of the whole event, with two sprints and four climbs.

Wellens was the first to pass the first sprint. When it came to the climbing stage, three cyclists kept a five-minute lead for a long time. But when the peloton arrived at the last 20 kilometers, they soon caught up with the leading group of over 10 cyclists, and the race became a close game since then.

After the queen's stage, Wellens still keeps the red jersey, and the blue and white jersey still belong to Gaviria and teammate Julian Alaphilippe of Quick Step Floors. Daniel Oss of BMC took the Green jersey, who also won the "most active rider" in the stage.

"It was a long and difficult race, but my teammates cooperated well for me to keep the red jersey," said Tim Wellens.

"There's still one stage ahead. I cannot say the overall champion will be mine for sure, but my teammates and I are going to work hard for this tomorrow," Wellens added.

The final stage will be a level-road circle race which starts and concludes in downtown Guilin with Yangshuo county as the turning point. Enditem

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