Keeping the Seat: Paul Magnier Scores Fourth Straight Win in Tour of Guangxi 2025

Paul Magnier also won the fourth stage of the Gree-Tour of Guangxi 2025. The 21-year-old Frenchman from Soudal-Quick-Step was once again the fastest in the bunch sprint on the streets of Jinchengjiang—he didn't even have to leave his saddle He beat Pavel Bittner and Jordi Meeus. Paul Magnier – who also won the first three stages – naturally remains the leader of the general classification.

This fourth stage featured nearly 2,500 meters of climbing. On paper, it was the queen stage, but it was not expected that the race would be decided here during this Tour of Guangxi. The finish was not uphill in Jinchengjiang. The last significant climb was located 25 kilometers from the finish and stretched nearly four kilometers at 6.4 percent gradient.

Early breakaway gets little leeway
Friday was an important stage for the mountains classification, so mountain jersey wearer Simon Guglielmi was the first attacker of the day. After just 14 kilometers, there were already mountain points up for grabs. He was soon joined by Logan Currie (Lotto), followed by Stan Dewulf (Decathlon AG2R), Michael Leonard (INEOS Grenadiers), and shortly after by Juan Pedro López (Lidl-Trek) and Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost).

Eventually, the six riders were together, after Guglielmi first secured the mountain points. At the front of the peloton, we saw Soudal-Quick-Step, Visma | Lease a Bike, and XDS Astana leading the chase. The maximum advantage of the six escapees was about four minutes. The French mountain jersey wearer of Arkéa-B&B Hotels (who, due to his team’s withdrawal, can use all the attention) continued to collect his mountain points along the way.

Niklas Behrens tries to avoid sprint finish
From about 35 kilometers to go, the peloton began to steadily reel in the breakaway. The first to drop off was López, until Dewulf was the last to give up at twelve kilometers from the finish. Just as the Belgian was awarded the combativity prize, Niklas Behrens (Visma | Lease a Bike) launched an attack from the peloton. He held the move until five and a half kilometers from the finish but could not prevent a bunch sprint. Once again, Magnier won it, this time without even standing out of the saddle.