Laas, who races for the Quick Pro Team, finished first in the 104.3 km section of the 13th edition of the Poyang Lake tour, a UCI 2.2-level race, with a time of 2:21.04.

The stage, in Jiangxi province in the southeast of the country, was made harder by the fact that the other teams did not want to cooperate much with Quick Pro, he said, though he nonetheless left Australians John Carter and Cameron Scott (both Cccache x Bodywrap) behind at the finish line.

"Since we are five against six-man teams and our Mongolian rider is a bit ill, meaning he doesn't have much strength, then I am a bit short on resources," Laas said post-race. "Luckily, at one point the Huansheng Team came to help and it became a bit easier to keep the race under control."

Cycle racing cooperation involves, for instance, drafting (riding in a slipstream) to save energy and reduce drag, particularly in the peloton – the main group of riders in a given stage. Riders and teams have to balance their individual competitive goals with the benefits of collective effort, often through a system of shared work at the front of the group, where each rider takes turns shielding others from the wind.

Within teams, riders known as domestiques work to support a team leader or leaders, occasionally even taking stage wins if it helps the team and the overall team leader.

"It could be expected that there might be a bunch sprint and luckily that's how it went in the end. We were well positioned at the front, the teamwork succeeded and all I had to do was seal the victory," Laas added about stage two of the race in China.

This was Laas' sixth stage win in UCI category tours this year.

Of other Estonians competing, Norman Vahtra (China Anta – Mentech Cycling Team) finished 10th, Oskar Nisu 15th, Martti Lenzius 64th, and Gleb Karpenko (+2.05; all Quick Pro Team) 110th.

Stage three will be 107.9 kilometers long, involving over 2000 meters of climbing.

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