David on Formosa

The Tour de Taiwan finished with a criterium around the Taipei City Hall today. The race was ridden in chilly conditions with the mercury hovering around 11°C. Polish rider Jezowski Krzysztof of the Merida Europe Team was the overall winner  after snatching the lead on the final stage.

Australian Peter McDonald of Drapac Porsche held the yellow jersey with a five second lead at the start of the final stage. McDonald is the current Australian road cycling champion.

The stage was something of a tactical battle between the Drapac Porsche and Merida teams. At the half way mark a group of four riders, including Krzysztof of Merida, broke away.  Three riders bridged the gap to catch them with five laps to go, but as they caught the leading group Kiendys Tomasz, also riding for Merida, broke away to solo to the line for victory. His team mate Krzysztof came in second to snatch the overall lead and also hold on the green jersey for the best sprinter.

The Merida Europe Team had a very successful race. Krzysztof earlier won stage 6 in Taipei County and stage 3 in Taichung. Merida also won the teams classification .

Lai Kuan-hua (賴冠華) of the Giant Asia Racing Team took the white jersey for the best Taiwanese rider. He also won the same classification last year. Roman Zhiyentayev riding for the Kazakhstan National Team won the blue jersey for best Asian rider and was third overall. Zhiyentayev also won stage 2 in Chiayi. Korean rider Seon Ho Park riding for the Seoul Cycling Team also had a good race winning the first stage in Kaohsiung and stage 5 in Hsinchu.

*For a full list of results check cyclingnews. com. More photos in the Tour de Taiwan 2009 set at flickr.