After nine days at 2000 meters or more above sea level and 1343 kilometers, Selle Italia's Gabriele Massaglia has emerged triumphant in this year's Tour of Qinghai Lake by a single second. The final stage in Xining proved a formality for Discovery's Allan Davis, who took an unprecedented fifth stage victory and was the best sprinter by a country mile, winning the classification by a massive 16-point margin.

It was a calculated win by the 36-year-old Massaglia, whose 13-year professional career includes a stage win at the 1997 Giro d'Italia, overall victory at the 1998 Tour de Langkawi, and perhaps his finest moment, the HEW-Cyclassics World Cup in 2000. After taking the race lead on Stage 4 before losing it a day later to eventual second overall, Daniel Lloyd of DFL Cyclingnews, Massaglia never panicked. And in the end, it was his speed and cunning rather than climbing prowess that won him the race.

Placing third in an intermediate sprint on Stage 6 saw the petite Italian back in yellow. Over the next two days in the mountains, an early breakaway worked to his advantage, keeping the pressure off him until the day's main climb. Once there, he and his team defended as much as they needed to, fending off attacks from Lloyd and the Relax-Gam team of Francisco Mancebo and Francisco Terciado Sacedo, who finished third and fourth overall.

On the final day, two seconds was all that separated Massaglia and Lloyd, and seven seconds between him and Mancebo. The quicker of the three, Massaglia extended his lead in the day's first intermediate sprint, but when Lloyd placed third in the next two, his lead narrowed to just one second, which is the way things ended.

"Today was really hard because of the three intermediate sprints, so I had to stay alert. With just two seconds separating this jersey from second, I was really nervous, but in cycling, if you win by only one second, it's okay - so long as you win!

"It's confirmation of the rider who I am," said a teary Massaglia, who was unable to control his emotions after the stage finished. "I've been a professional for 13 years; I've won many important races, from a stage of the Giro d'Italia, a World Cup - and now this... I'm really happy. This was not just a physical race, it was a mental one, too."

Lloyd, fourth overall last year, can be satisfied with his second step on the podium, even if the initial feeling was bittersweet. "It is a little bit, yeah," he admitted, looking a tad despondent.

Massaglia gets the overall

Photo: Anthony Tan

"It came down to a second in the end. I was twice third in the sprints and at one time that close from coming second, and that was the difference between winning and coming second. I couldn't have done anything more than I did... I came here in perfect form and couldn't have prepared any better."

It'll be interesting to see if the 26-year-old Englishman can go on to bigger things in years to come. He certainly wants to. "I have some more aims in Europe next two months - I've got the Tour of Britain and Tour of Ireland, and they're both big races - and the Tour of Britain has been one of aims since the start of this year, along with this race. I'm hoping if I can get some more results, then maybe I can get onto a ProTour team, but if not, I know that this team is trying to get bigger as well," said Lloyd.

As for Massaglia, he intends to rest for 10 days before embarking on another racing block, where he'll contest a number of Italian semi-classics in August. "I hope to be as strong as I was here. I'm tired, yes, but I was in the form of my life, and together with all my experience, that's how I managed to win. I'm really happy with this victory; I'll see about [coming back] next year," he said.

Selle Italia also cleaned up in the mountains classification with Sergio Barbero, while a late charge on Saturday's final mountain stage saw Chinese national team member Haijan Ma overtake Fuyu Li to finish as the best Asian rider. Relax-Gam took some consolation by winning the teams classification ahead of PSK Whirlpool and Intel-Action.

Sunday in Xining
A blue, cloudless sky and a boisterous Sunday crowd welcomed the remaining 112 riders for their last hurrah before the sixth Tour of Qinghai Lake would come to a close. The flat, 5.5km rectangular circuit in downtown Xining would be completed 20 times for a total of 110km, which included three intermediate sprints.

Thirty-eight seconds in time bonuses were up for grabs, and with a shade over a minute separating the top eight riders, the leader board was by no means decided. Naturally, with Lloyd a tantalizing two seconds away from the yellow jersey, his DFL Cyclingnews team attempted to control the situation leading to the first sprint after five laps, but it was Massaglia who got the better of the Brit, placing third behind André Schulze (Wiesenhof) and Antonio Cruz (Discovery) and extending his overall lead to three seconds.

Five laps later, the next intermediate sprint saw Lloyd take back the one second Massaglia gained earlier, as Discovery's Fuyu Li took line honors ahead of Alexander Porsev (Russia) and the DFL rider. Then, in the final intermediate sprint after 15 laps, won by Denis Bortolini (Selle Italia) over Enrico Rosso (OTC Doors), Lloyd did it again, bringing the overall margin down to a second.

With three laps remaining, Discovery Channel put all their men on front to lead the charge home for Davis, who duly responded with the great turn of speed he's shown all week, romping home ahead of Denmark's Jens-Erik Madsen and OTC Doors' Enrico Rossi, and as a consequence, leaving the final podium unchanged.