With two days until the end of what appears likely to be the final UCI race of his career, David McCann remains an excellent fourth overall in the Tour of Taihu Lake. The RTS Racing Team rider was caught up in a crash on yesterday’s fifth stage to Bamboo Forest park, but escaped injury. While he ended up crossing the line one minute 18 seconds back in 96th place, the incident occurred inside the final three kilometres and so he was credited with the same time as the stage winner Alexander Serebryakov (Team Type 1 - Sanofi).

Today’s stage also came down to a massive sprint, with Sebastian Körber (Nutrixxion Abus) beating Joeri Stallaert (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony) to the line. McCann rolled in as part of the same group and holds his position just outside the top three.

Two stages remain in the 2.1-ranked race, and McCann will look for any opportunity to move up the general classification. He is sixteen seconds behind the overall leader Milan Kadlec (ASC Dukla Praha), seven seconds behind Floris Goesinnen (Drapac Cycling) and just two seconds off Ki Ho Choi (Hong Kong).

McCann has decided to bring his international career to a close this year, due to his desire to spend more time with his family. The 39 year old had previously indicated that he might consider riding the An Post Rás, a race he won in 2004, but now plays down the chances of that happening.

“Never say never, but no, I think I am done,” he told Irishcycling.com when asked if he could ride the Irish UCI event. “I wouldn’t mind trying to do a seventeen minute ten mile time trial some day, though…”

The Tour of Taihu Lake continues tomorrow with a 114.1 kilometre race from Wujiang Binhu Xincheng to Shengze.


Tour of Taihu Lake, China (2.1)

November 5, Stage 5: Yixing Shanjuandong Cave - Bamboo Forest Park:

1, Alexander Serebryakov (Team Type 1 - Sanofi) 110.6 kilometres in 2 hours 31 mins 55 secs
2, Joeri Stallaert (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony)
3, Kevin Peeters (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony)
4, Leonid Krasnov (RusVelo)
5, Ho Ting Kwok (Hong Kong)
6, Alois Kankovsky (ASC Dukla Praha) all same time

Irish:

96, David McCann (RTS Racing Team) at 1 min 18 secs


Teams

1, RusVelo, at 7 hours 35 mins 45 secs
2, Nutrixxion Abus
3, Carmim – Prio, both same time

Other:

19, RTS Racing Team, same time

General classification after stage 5:

1, Milan Kadlec (ASC Dukla Praha) 14 hours 31 mins 11 secs
2, Floris Goesinnen (Drapac Cycling) at 9 secs
3, Ki Ho Choi (Hong Kong) at 14 secs
4, David McCann (RTS Racing Team) at mins 16 secs
5, King Lok Cheung (Hong Kong)
6, Thomas Vaubourzeix (La Pomme Marseille) at 20 secs


November 6, Stage 6: Huzhou Changxing - Taihu Tourist Resort:

1, Sebastian Körber (Nutrixxion Abus) 106 kilometres in 2 hours 12 mins 11 secs
2, Joeri Stallaert (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony)
3, Leonid Krasnov (RusVelo)
4, Yannick Martinez (La Pomme Marseille)
5, Harrif Saleh (Terengganu Cycling Team)
6, Benjamin Giraud (La Pomme Marseille) all same time

Irish:

47, David McCann (RTS Racing Team) same time


Teams:

1, La Pomme Marseille, at 6 hours 36 mins 33 secs
2, Nutrixxion Abus
3, Hong Kong, both same time

Other:

12, RTS Racing Team, same time

General classification after stage 6:

1, Milan Kadlec (ASC Dukla Praha) 16 hours 43 mins 22 secs
2, Floris Goesinnen (Drapac Cycling) at 9 secs
3, Ki Ho Choi (Hong Kong) at 14 secs
4, David McCann (RTS Racing Team) at 16 secs
5, King Lok Cheung (Hong Kong)
6, Thomas Vaubourzeix (La Pomme Marseille) at 20 secs

Points classification:

1, Alois Kankovsky (ASC Dukla Praha) 52 pts
2, Alexander Serebryakov (Team Type 1 - Sanofi) 44
3, Sebastian Körber (Nutrixxion Abus) 39
4, Benjamin Giraud (La Pomme Marseille) 39
5, Leonid Krasnov (RusVelo) 36
6, Joeri Stallaert (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony) 33

Irish:

24, David McCann (RTS Racing Team) 5


Teams classification:

1, La Pomme Marseille, 5 hours 11 mins 35 secs
2, ASC Dukla Praha, at 30 secs
3, Drapac Cycling, same time

Other:

18, RTS Racing Team, at 17 mins 49 secs