The perennial runner-up finally turns the tables! Hennequin's comeback story at Stage 5 of the Tour de Taiwan

Second, Second, Second… First!

If there were a “Best Runner-Up Award” for the Tour de Taiwan, Paul Hennequin would undoubtedly be the winner after the first four stages. But the 23-year-old French rider clearly wasn’t satisfied with playing second fiddle.

Hennequin’s Tour de Taiwan Results

Stage	Place	Mood Index
Stage 1 (Taipei)	2nd	😤 So close
Stage 2 (Taoyuan)	—	😐 Okay
Stage 3 (Kaohsiung)	2nd	😤😤 So close again
Stage 4 (Pingtung)	2nd	😤😤😤 Are you kidding me
Stage 5 (Hualien)	1st	🎉🎉🎉 Finally!!!

Redemption in Hualien

On March 19, the final stage of the Tour de Taiwan, a 153.71 km “Highway of Happiness” from Luye, Taitung to Liyu Lake, Hualien.

This route along Provincial Highway 9 through the East Rift Valley returned to the Tour de Taiwan map after a 15-year absence. With a pleasant 20-degree temperature and a blistering 48.74 km/h average speed, everything was set for Hennequin’s breakout.

Midway through the race, a six-rider breakaway formed around the 50 km mark, building a maximum advantage of 1 minute 20 seconds. But after being caught by the peloton at the 106 km mark, it was back to the script of a bunch sprint.

94 riders surged toward the finish line together. This time, Hennequin wasn’t second again.

Finish Time: 2 hours 33 minutes 53 seconds

Place	Rider	Team
1	Paul Hennequin	Euskaltel-Euskadi
2	Davide Bomboi	Unibet Tietema Rockets
3	Itamar Einhorn	Israel-Premier Tech

Euskaltel’s Taiwan Mission

Why would a Basque team travel all the way to Taiwan to race? The answer is simple: UCI points.

Euskaltel-Euskadi ranked only 49th in the UCI team standings at the end of 2025, and to maintain their Grand Tour invitation status, they needed to crack the top 30. The Taiwan trip became their “points harvest”:

Haul	Details
Stage wins	1 (Stage 5, Hennequin)
General classification	3rd (Jordi Lopez)
Sprinters’ green jersey	Hennequin
Team classification	1st (41:15:02)
UCI points	127 points (nearly equal to all of 2025)

127 UCI points, almost equivalent to their entire 2025 season output. It’s fair to say this Taiwan trip was Euskaltel’s most successful campaign of the season.

The Green Jersey Coronation

Hennequin didn’t just win the final stage—his consistent performances also earned him the sprinters’ green jersey. Throughout this Tour de Taiwan, he proved one thing to the world: Those who persevere to the end will eventually taste the fruits of victory.

Next time someone mocks you for always being second, tell them Hennequin’s story.