Summerhill takes race lead in Taiwan

Results continue to come in for US-registered teams at the Tour de Taiwan after Edwin Avila kicked things off for Team Illuminate with an opening-stage win. On Tuesday it was UnitedHealthcare's turn when Danny Summerhill took a convincing win during stage 3 in Taoyuan, seizing the overall race lead for his efforts. 

The 28-year-old American won from a group of five that formed in the series of climbs leading to the finish. Summerhill launched a devastating attack on the technical, twisting final kilometre to win ahead of Anthony Giacoppo (IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness) and Brenton Jones (JLT Condor).

Summerhill now leads the overall by four second over Giacoppo and six seconds over Marco Zanotti (Monkey Town Continental Team).

“I felt really good today," Summerhill said. "I’ve had a great time racing at the Tour of Taiwan. My team did a great job racing as a unit and clearly it paid off with a victory, which is always the plan."

The 118km stage in Taoyuan started with a fast downhill section followed by a flat lead in to a series of climbs over the final 70 kilometres. Director Hendrik Redant said the team's plan played out perfectly for Summerhill.

“Today was going to be a decisive day," Redant said. "The plan was to have Lachlan Norris and Danny in the front at the start of the last climb. The finish was very technical, which suited Danny. Lachlan did a great job controlling the Colombian rider who won the first stage, and Danny finished it off as champion."