Reminiscent of Greg LeMond’s stunning 8-second come-from-behind victory at the 1989 Tour de France, Chinese amateur Li Peng Cheng had to pull off a similar amazing feat at the 10th Granfondo Yunnan on Friday. On the final climb on the final stage of the six day race in southern China, Li Peng Cheng had to make up 2’36” on overall leader Wu Bao Chao to take the overall win.

On the penultimate 36 kilometer climb to an elevation of 3200 meters, Li Peng Cheng wearing bib #1 immediately went to the front, set a blistering pace and pushed as hard as he could to make up critical time. Over an hour later covered in sweat and exhausted he crossed the finish line to claim stage victory, and then started to eye each second as it ticked by, hoping his winning margin was big enough.

Eventually Wu Bao Chao came into sight and surged across the finish, but it was too late. He finished 4’47” down, loosing the overall title and champion’s yellow jersey to Li Peng Cheng.

After six days and 360 kilometers of racing Li Peng Cheng’s winning time was 10:15:00, with Wu Bao Chao (10:16:51) next and Wang Wen (10:19:58) taking the final podium step.

Li Si won the overall women’s race in 11:38:37, with Li Xiong Pan (11:54:38) leapfrogging Wang Yue (11:56:19) on the final stage to claim second place.

Over 4000 riders from 23 countries participated in the 2023 Granfondo Yunnan cycling festival.

Photo Credit: Granfondo Yunnan

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