The Tour of Guangxi has not gone as planned for Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott), who has finished third in three stages so far. The Italian's latest podium came in Nanning, where he was passed by Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) for his 12th win of 2019.

Trentin has accumulated six wins this season, but the Italian is still hungry to add to his win total despite having only a few race days left before the winter break.

"I don't know. If I can win one or two more, I'm fine with that." He told Cyclingnews at the finish of stage 3, when asked about his chances of winning the remaining stages of the World Tour.

"So far, it's going pretty well. Of course we are here to win, not to finish third. It's frustrating to come so close to missing out on the championship."

Trentin has been a regular on the podium in 2019, with 21 top-three finishes including a stage win at the Tour de France, but also a painful silver medal at the road world championships in Yorkshire.

These numbers show impressive consistency from February to October, and aside from some of the fastest men in the peloton, there are few who can match them in the sport.

Still, Trentin had a chance to repeat his victory in Nanning. Perhaps the hill 5km from the finish suited him better than his sprint rivals. But despite Mitchelton-Scott's hard work for most of the day, Ackermann took the lead, and his pace was better than the Italian's in the final straight duel.

"It was tough, but not enough to drop the proper sprinter," Ackerman said. 'I think I did a good job. 'I got a good lead from Edmondson, but I wasn't fast enough for Ackermann. Riabushenko took second, but he was on his wheels."

"Ackermann didn't win the first two stages, but he proved to be the fastest. He's always there like that, but it's better to be at the top than three times in third place. But it's okay."

Stages 5 and 6 of the race are Trentin's last chance to end the year on a high note, and his tenure with the Australian team with a win.

The 30-year-old will move to the CCC team next season.

"It was good. The group and the team are really good. I have a really good relationship with everyone and the staff. It's been a really good two years."

He declined to say what his plans are for next season, when he and Greg Van Avermaat could form the strongest duo in the Classic. Trentin's mind is still on the rest of 2019, focused on tasting victory at least one more time before the end of the year.

"I'm not thinking about next year yet. Tomorrow is not for me, it's the day after I won last year. And next month I will have plenty of time to think about the future."