Qinghai Lake Tour Stage Eight

The Qinghai Lake Tour arrived in Qilian – dubbed as East Switzerland by the Chinese and it was easy to see why. It was a stunning contrast to the wide open  green grasslands, endless rolling hills devoid of trees. Now there was trees everywhere and beautiful valleys surrounded by imposing rocky mountains. For Stage Eight, I traveled with the Slovenian Team car.  Enjoy the pictures below.

Qilian: East Switzerland of China

Riders lining up for Stage Eight under the watchful eye of Chinese soldiers

Does this picture motivate you to go riding?

Chinese spectators were always numerous

More of the Chinese fans out in force for the riders...

The peloton getting very strung out on one of the downhills

At this time of the year, the fields are covered with yellow flowers

Cowboys in Qinghai lead a nice simple life

This penultimate stage going into Qingshizui was won by Russian National Team rider Boris Shpilevskiy after the hors catagorie climb up to 3,850m failed to crack Shpilevskiy’s legs. The Iranian TPT Team have virtually secured the Yellow jersey for the Tour and the final stage on the streets of Xining will be just a formality.

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