Dylan Kennett wears the orange leader's jersey after winning the opening race of the Tour of Taihu Lake in Wuxi on Oct 7. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Dylan Kennett, a New Zealand cyclist, came first in the 5.5-kilometer individual time trial, the prologue of the Tour of Taihu Lake 2018, on Oct 7 in Binhu district of Wuxi, Jiangsu province.

The annual Tour of Taihu Lake, first held in 2010, is now one of China's most popular cycling events and an important fixture on the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Asia Tour calendar.

Kennett, from the St. George Continental Cycling Team (STG), had a narrow win over Australia's Benjamin Dyball, one of his teammates, coming three seconds ahead. Third place went to Romania's Serghei Tvetcov from the United Healthcare Professional Cycling Team (UPC), coming seven seconds behind Kennett.

Kennett was excited about winning the prologue and was quite satisfied with his performance, claiming that he "had a good ride" and "couldn't have done too much better."

The 23-year-old cyclist was "new to the road racing" as he put it, and this marked the first road racing championship he had bagged so far in his career.

Kennett became a member of STG this July, before which he was a track cyclist. He won gold in the team pursuit at the 2015 UCI Track Cycling World Championships and came fourth in the men's team pursuit at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

"Hopefully I can hang on to this orange jersey (representing the highest individual total scores) as long as I can," said Kennett, expressing that he would try his best to have it to the finish.

The Tour of Taihu Lake includes stages in nine different cities lining the shores of Taihu Lake in East China, with Wuxi hosting the first race each year.

This year's tour comprises of 122 riders from 21 professional teams at home and abroad, who will begin the first stage—a grueling 85-kilometer course running the length of Wuxi tomorrow, which passes by many of the city's scenic spots including Lihu Lake, Lingshan Grand Buddha and Longtouzhu Park.

The contestants will cycle a combined distance of 800 kilometers over the course of the tour.