John powers to 2nd in Stage 7 of Tour de Guyane

Guyana’s national road race champion Briton John continued his impressive showing at the 2026 Tour de Guyane by finishing second on Stage Seven in Sinnamary on Friday.
John, representing Vélo Club de Sinnamary, crossed the line in the same time as stage winner Meving Gène of Guadeloupe following the 142.9-kilometre journey from Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni. Both riders recorded three hours, 19 minutes, and 22 seconds.
Belgium’s Jonas De Schampheleire finished third, two seconds behind the leading pair, while Carl Jolly of Schils-Great Britain placed fourth 33 seconds later.
John’s runner-up finish came two days after his historic Stage Five victory. Racing in front of his club’s home crowd, the Guyanese battled through back pain and narrowly missed another stage win in an exciting finish.
John De Schutter, Sten Verzijl, Jean-Nicolas De Broeck and Sooi Wuyts were also part of the group that completed the stage 33 seconds behind the winner. Jakob Langmann finished ninth 40 seconds behind, while Luca Harter rounded out the top 10 at one minute and 59 seconds behind the pair.

The result lifted John three places in the individual general classification. He moved from 30th after Stage Six to 27th after Stage Seven, while reducing his deficit to the overall leader from 10 minutes and 10 seconds to eight minutes and five seconds.
Tim Arts of the Global Cycling Team retained the yellow jersey with an overall time of 21 hours and 43 seconds. Guadeloupe’s Damien Urcel remained second, eight seconds behind, while Nicolas Gauthier of Quebec Vélo occupied third at 44 seconds.
Charlie Lacaille was fourth at one minute and eight seconds, followed by De Broeck at one minute and 21 seconds. Oscar Hutchings, Jolly, Killian Boscher, Verzijl and Bram Munsterman completed the overall top 10.
Stage Seven followed Thursday’s demanding double-header. The day began with a 100.8-kilometre road race from Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni to Mana, won by Belgian rider Rutger Wouters, before the cyclists contested an afternoon individual time trial between Awala and Yalimapo.
The time trial significantly reshaped the overall standings and left John in 30th place heading into Friday’s stage.
After seven stages, Wouters led the points and combativity classifications, while Bouke Gerritsma held the red jersey for the hot spots competition. Jolly led the combined classification, Gauthier was the leading Under-23 rider and Guadeloupe headed the team standings.
Antoine Grand was selected to carry the blue combativity jersey during the next stage.
Of the 93 riders who started Stage Seven, Benjamin Bousquet abandoned the race while Tayes Lompeja finished outside the permitted time limit.