Mezgec wins first stage of Tour of Beijing

BEIJING (AP) Luka Mezgec of Slovenia won the opening stage of the Tour of Beijing in a sprint finish on Friday.

After more than hours on the 167-kilometer stage between Chongli and Zhangjiakou, Mezgec edged Caleb Ewan of Australia and Tyler Farrar of the United States by a mere 4 seconds.

Ewan, in his WorldTour debut for Orica-GreenEdge, was only millimeters in front of Farrar.

Defending champion Benat Inxausti of Spain finished more than 18 minutes off the pace.