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MATTHEWS
SPEEDS TO SUCCESS ON DAY ONE OF Le TOUR de LANGKAWI
01/03/2010
KUALA
BERANG - Nineteen year old Australian rider Michael Matthews
took his debut pro victory on today’s opening stage
of Le Tour de Langkawi 2010, outkicking Vidal Celis (Footon
Servetto), Ruslan Tleubayev (Kazakhstan National Team) , Malaysian
Anuar Manan (Geumsan Ginseng Asia) plus the rest of the peloton.
The Team Jayco Skins rider grabbed the first yellow jersey
of the race, ending the day four seconds clear of the Spaniard
Celis and Malaysian rider Anuar Manan (Geumsan Ginseng Asia)
in the general classification. Tleubayev is fourth with Matthews’
fellow Australian Peter McDonald (Drapac Porsche) fifth.
McDonald was clearly the most aggressive rider during the
174.5 kilometre race from Kota Bharu to Kuala Berang, shrugging
off the sweltering conditions to go on the attack with the
Indonesian Rastra Patria Dinawan (Polygon Sweet Nice). They
surged clear 54 kilometres into the stage and while Patria
Dinawan was dropped soon afterwards, McDonald continued on
alone and scooped the day’s third hot spot sprint, at
Sungai Tong (km 128.3), plus the second KOM prime, the category
4 ascent at Sg Tong (km132.3).
He built a maximum lead of over nine minutes, yet was caught
25 kilometres from the line. The peloton controlled further
breakaway efforts and this led to the big bunch sprint plus
Matthews’ dual success.
“This is unbelievable. I came wanting to win but not
expecting it, so it is really good,” he said. “I
didn’t know the other riders, I didn’t know who
to follow, who was going to do, so I had to pick the right
wheels. There were people going everywhere, I heard crashes
behind, I think. I had to try to get out the best side and
get a free run to the finish.
“The Footon rider [Celis] hit out pretty early so I
had something to run at. It gave me something to chase and
it worked out really well.”
McDonald put in a huge effort to lead the race for 96 kilometres.
He ended the day level on mountains points with the first
KOM winner, Roman Zhiyentayev (Kazakhstan), who nabbed the
category 4 prime at the large bridge of Tok Bali [km 40.5],
plus the winner of the third climbing prime (Kg Chapu, km
151.8), Adiq Othman of Drapac Porsche. The race judges awarded
the Australian the jersey, and he vowed to do his best to
defend it throughout the race.
“I wasn’t really looking to stay away until the
end, I thought it was a bit out of my grasp,” he admitted
afterwards. “I just wanted to pick up the sprint and
KOM primes. I didn’t actually know there was one more
KOM to come towards the end, maybe I might have pushed a bit
more to try to take that, but it all worked out fine because
I have the jersey anyway.
“The jersey is a goal now. I will just try to pick up
points along the way, if I can. They tend to work out more
by sprints, so you have to look for your team to help you
out and keep you up near the front when it comes to the KOM.”
He said that he hoped to ride well on the savage Genting Highlands
climb on Saturday, and that his priority after using so much
energy today was to try to recover and keep a bit for the
always-decisive stage of the Tour de Langkawi.
The early part of today’s race saw many attacks being
fired off by riders. Malaysian competitors were particularly
active and one of those, Anuar Manan (Geumsan Ginseng Asia)
took the first hot spot sprint, hitting the line in Jelawat
(km 20.7) ahead of Matthias Brandle (Footon-Servetto) and
others.
Twenty kilometres later, Zhiyentayev took the first King of
the Mountains prime at the large bridge of Tok Bali. Zainal
Rizuan (Malaysia) was second over the line.
Then, following a number of short-lived attacks, Manan also
took the second hot spot sprint at Kuala Besut (km 50.6),
edging out Matthias Brandle (Footon-Servetto).
Aside from those two prime wins, he was the second-quickest
Asian rider in the finishing sprint into Kuala Berang. Ruslan
Tleubayev (Kazakhstan) finished one slot ahead of him in third
place.
However the bonus points picked up saw him end the day third
overall and as the best Asian rider in the general classification.
It was an excellent performance on home soil and shows the
strong progress that Malaysian riders are making in top-level
cycling. “I am very happy to have the green jersey,”
he said at the post-stage press conference. “My target
today was to take that and also go for the stage win. I only
got one of those, the green jersey, but maybe I can keep it
until the finish.”
The various battles will continue to play out on tomorrow’s
longest stage of the 2010 Tour de Langkawi, the mainly flat
182.3 kilometre leg from Kuala Terengganu to Chukai.
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