Four climbs, 2,679 metres of climbing and a sprint finish. Paul Magnier won stage 4 of the Tour of Guangxi from Bama to Tian’e, 164.6 km in 3h41’55”, ahead of Cees Bol and Max Kanter. The 22-year-old Frenchman from Soudal Quick-Step is also the new leader: he has 10” on Frits Biesterbos and 16” on Kanter.
On paper it was the stage with the most climbing of the whole race. Instead the peloton stayed together: 40 riders were with the winner at the finish, and 87 of the 144 finishers came home within 30” of him.
Four climbs and no selection
The road climbed almost without respite along the G243, from Bama, at 236 metres, up to the 1,061 metres of the highest summit, 52 km from the finish. Two second-category climbs and two third-category ones: the hardest, 8.2 km at 4.8%, is the third in order of appearance.
After the last summit the profile descended towards Longzhu park, where the finish is, at 228 metres. The selection index is zero out of one hundred: the value of a pure bunch sprint. The average speed, 44.5 km/h, also shows the peloton had no trouble keeping the pace.
The sprint and the predictions
Before the start the fagIAno gave an 86.7% chance of a sprint, 10.1% of a breakaway win and 3.3% of a finish among the overall contenders. For the win the favourite was Olav Kooij, at 24.8%; Magnier was second at 23.2%, then Jordi Meeus at 9.9% and Kanter at 5.1%. Kooij is not in the top twenty, Meeus is twelfth, Kanter completed the podium.
Behind Magnier, Bol and Kanter comes Biesterbos, fourth, who had won stage 2 and started in the leader’s jersey. Pau Miquel Delgado, Sebastian Kolze Changizi, Brady Gilmore, Loe van Belle, Juan Sebastian Molano and Marijn van den Berg complete the top ten. Tom Pidcock, Paul Double, Emanuel Buchmann and Kévin Vauquelin also finished in the winner’s group: the overall contenders lost nothing.
Magnier is at home in Guangxi
It is his second stage win of this edition, after stage 1 in Chongzuo on 13 October. In 2026 it is his fifteenth win: two at the Algarve, three at the Giro d’Italia, the ADAC Cyclassics, a stage at the Deutschland Tour, plus Muur Classic, Binche-Chimay-Binche, Hong Kong, two stages in Slovakia and one in Croatia. In his career he had 38 before today, 11 of them in the WorldTour.
At Guangxi last year he had already won five stages: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6. Today he also takes the points jersey, with 40 points, and the young riders’ jersey. In 2026 he has raced 75 days, with 11 podiums and 28 top-ten finishes.
Standings: a lead built on bonuses
Magnier leads with 14h59’06”. Biesterbos is at 10”, Kanter at 16”, Bol and Enzo Paleni at 20”. The lead is all in the bonuses: Magnier has collected 26”, Biesterbos 16”, Kanter 10”, and the differences match the gaps. On road time the top three are level.
Behind them the field is tight: from fifth to tenth place there are only 3” between them, and Pidcock is twelfth at 25”. These are seconds that a climbing stage can shift: the last editions were decided by 5”, 6”, 9” and 15” (Paul Double in 2025 over Victor Lafay).
In the mountains classification Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto Intermarché) leads with 28 points, ahead of Dries De Bondt with 16. In the teams classification NSN Cycling Team lead.
The Italians
The best is Alessandro Pinarello (NSN Cycling Team): 51st on the stage in the same time as Magnier, 38th overall at 26” and 14th among the young riders. Davide Formolo is 59th, Samuele Battistella 69th, Andrea Bagioli 70th, all in the winner’s time.
Matteo Milan (Groupama-Fdj United) finished 91st at 1’08”, Mattia Agostinacchio (EF Education-Easypost) 94th at 1’12”. Milan is also the best Italian in the points classification, 26th with 5 points. Daniel Skerl, Manlio Moro and Matteo Moschetti came in at 17’11”.
Stage 5 changes terrain
On 17 October the race goes from Jinchengjiang to Yizhou: 170.6 km with 2,237 metres of climbing, starting at 4:30 Italian time. After 43 km there is a second-category climb of 6.4 km at 5.1%, then two third-category ones, the last 49 km from the finish. The finish is not uphill, but the terrain is hilly: for Biesterbos, Kanter and the others it is the first chance to take seconds off Magnier.
The stage top ten
| # | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Magnier | Soudal Quick-Step | 3h41’55” |
| 2 | Cees Bol | Decathlon CMA CGM Team | s.t. |
| 3 | Max Kanter | XDS Astana Team | s.t. |
| 4 | Frits Biesterbos | Team Picnic Postnl | s.t. |
| 5 | Pau Miquel Delgado | Bahrain Victorious | s.t. |
| 6 | Sebastian Kolze Changizi | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 7 | Brady Gilmore | NSN Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 8 | Loe van Belle | Team Visma | Lease A Bike | s.t. |
| 9 | Juan Sebastian Molano Benavides | UAE Team Emirates XRG | s.t. |
| 10 | Marijn van den Berg | EF Education-Easypost | s.t. |
The overall standings after stage 4
| # | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Magnier | Soudal Quick-Step | 14h59’06” |
| 2 | Frits Biesterbos | Team Picnic Postnl | +10″ |
| 3 | Max Kanter | XDS Astana Team | +16″ |
| 4 | Cees Bol | Decathlon CMA CGM Team | +20″ |
| 5 | Enzo Paleni | Groupama-Fdj United | +20″ |
| 6 | Jasha Sütterlin | Team Jayco Alula | +21″ |
| 7 | Jordi Meeus | Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe | +22″ |
| 8 | Jhonatan Narvaez | UAE Team Emirates XRG | +22″ |
| 9 | Neilson Powless | EF Education-Easypost | +22″ |
| 10 | Martin Tjøtta | Uno-X Mobility | +23″ |
The race in numbers
- Average speed
- 44.5 km/h 164.6 km in 3h41’55”, the winner’s time.
- Selection index
- 0 out of 100 Of 144 finishers: 87 within 30 seconds of the winner, 105 within 2 minutes, 109 within 10 minutes (him included). It runs from 0, a bunch sprint, to 98, a solo finish.
Story written with the help of Mnemosyne.
Sources
- Results and times: UCI, official results.
- Cyclingnews, «https://www.cyclingnews.com/pro-cycling/racing/tour-of-guangxi-2026/».
- Photo: GeorgDerReisende, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
