Memorable ride by Asians
NST, 12/2/2008
A FIVE-MAN break with all Asians
going all the way to the finish after almost 150 kilometres on
their own, was something never previously expected, least of all
in Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) which has always been dominated
by riders from other continents.
And it is something Tour leader Mattieu
Sprick described as great for cycling as a whole.
For that, Stage Three of LTdL from Sitiawan
to Banting yesterday must go down as the most memorable to date,
despite the more than 100km transfer to the Tour’s overnight
base in Port Dickson that came after it.
South Korean stage winner Lee Won Jae of
Seoul City team, Le Tua’s Anuar Manan — who ended
up with the Milo green jersey on his back — Trek-Marco Polo’s
Chinese rider Xing Yandong, Meitan Hompo-GDR’s eccentric
Koji Fukushima and Malaysian national team rider Fauzan Ahmad
Lutfi also offered in their feat a picture of two generations
of Asian cyclists — Lee, Anuar and Fauzan all at just 22
years of age, Yandong 23, while Koji is 35.
The quintet deservedly took the top five
places in the stage and each wrote themselves a place in history.
Lee was the first South Korean stage winner
in LTdL, Anuar the best Malaysian finish at second and the first
ever Asian to lead the points classification and Yandong with
the best ever finish by a Chinese rider.
“This is great for cycling and also
for Le Tour de Langkawi. We’ve been familiar with some of
the Asian riders in the Meitan Hompo-GDR team in Europe, and we
know they’re always very aggressive.
“They’re always attacking and
today (yesterday) was the same, and they got a great result for
Asian cycling,” said Bouygues Telecom’s Frenchman
Sprick, who held on to the TM yellow jersey for the second day
in a row.
“For my team, the break was an ideal
situation as the first 50 kilometres were really flat out and
hard on us. There were other riders (than those within striking
distance of the overall lead) who were taking all the points and
time bonuses, so we were comfortable.”
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