Sam Brand claimed an excellent top-20 finish overall at the Tour of Taihu Lake stage race in China earlier this week.

The Novo Nordisk star was in action for the all-diabetic cycling team at the week-long event in the Far East and produced several fine performances to finish the race as the leading British rider.

After ending 20th on the opening prologue, the first stage proper was a fast and flat 89km circuit around Wuxi on the shore of Taihu Lake.

The pace was unrelenting with an average speed of almost 48km/h, therefore a breakaway was never given a chance to establish which led to an inevitable sprint finish and some great teamwork allowed Brand’s team-mate Andrea Peron to take sixth.

Stage two was another fast affair and a small group of three riders managed to temporarily a breakaway, but once again it came down to a sprint finish in which Peron claimed 12th place.

As Sam explains, the third stage was another intense affair: ’The majority of the course was exposed so before the start we knew that position in the group would be vital.

’Although the wind was strong, it wasn’t strong enough to split the group permanently although there were gaps appearing throughout the tougher sections.

’This ultimately didn’t matter as the first 65km was attack after attack, something I was heavily involved in. Full gas racing. I loved it.

’A small group of three formed a breakaway late on but, with it lasting only 15km, a sprint was always on the cards.

’Coming into the final 5km we held great position at the front of the group, battling well trying to keep Andrea [Peron) out of the wind. This was undoubtedly always going to be another chaotic sprint.’

Stage four consisted of a city centre circuit race over 10 laps and Brand did well to get himself into a couple of good breakaways but the race was brought back together again.

’Coming into the last few laps we were positioned to work from Andrea and he came home 11th after a long, uphill drag finish.’

The fifth and penultimate stage was the tour’s queen stage, culminating in three 17km circuits with a 2km climb in each.

Sam managed to get in the breakaway and worked well to build an advantage on the field. The team worked well to keep at the front and help Peron fight for the top 10, while Brand picked up a bonus second at an intermediate sprint which moved him up a few places overall.

The Manxman rounded off the tour by finishing line safely in the peloton on the final stage and concluded the race as the best placed Team Novo Nordisk rider in 16th place on GC, only 51 seconds down on the overall race winner Dylan Kennett.

’This is my best result ever on GC and I knew the margins would be tight so it was important to always be on top, consistent and positive.

’After Slovakia I came into the race unsure of how things would go due to only two weeks in between but feeling confident. From the prologue, I knew I had some good form and my confidence grew.

’I looked for a breakaway everyday to gain experience and to test myself but it wasn’t until this came off that I knew how close the top 20 really was. It was great to take a second at one intermediate and to push up into the top 20. Moreover, we had a great team work that really did contribute massively to achieve this.

’Supporting Andrea Peron and the rest of the team kept me consistently placed at the front which was fantastic.’