Loddo finally bags stage win
NST, 14/2/2008
ALBERTO Loddo made up for the disappointment
of missing out on the first four days with an explosive bunch
sprint victory in Stage Five of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) from
Johor Baru to Bandar Penawar yesterday.
The hectic day on the undulating terrain
with crosswinds affecting the surge towards the finish in the
final 60km of the 139.9km stage, also ended with French Pro Tour
team Bouygues Telecom taking charge of their second jersey when
their Swiss sprinter Aurelien Clerc dislodged local hope, Le Tua's
Anuar Manan, atop the points classification.
Stage Five was again dotted with multiple
attacks, but insignificant to the outcome apart from the loss
of Anuar's lead to Clerc, courtesy in part to the final intermediate
sprint of the day in Bandar Penawar in which Clerc finished second
to NGC Medical-OTC's Diego Nosotti.
That pushed him comfortably ahead in the
battle for the Milo green jersey after both Clerc and Anuar had
taken top points in each of the first two intermediate sprints.
Bouygues Telecom's Matthieu Sprick held
on to the overall general classification (GC) lead for a fifth
day, maintaining his one second advantage over Drapac-Porsche's
Mitchell Docker.
Loddo's Tinkoff team celebrated his second
and hard-earned victory which the rider viewed as just reward
after their failures in the opening four stages.
Loddo was clearly ahead of CSF-Navigare's
Argentine sprinter Mauro Richeze and Clerc at the finish line,
while Japan's Meitan Hompo-GDR rider Takashi Miyazawa finished
an impressive fourth, ahead of Seoul City's Park Sung Baek and
Le Tua's Anuar at sixth.
"I was desperate for a win today (yesterday).
The team had worked so hard, they pulled a lot in the first days
of the Tour but for nothing, for which I was really disappointed,"
said Loddo, who last year won five stages in LTdL, then riding
for the Serramenti Diquigiovanni team.
"Today we went with (Sergey) Klimov
in the break (in the final 60 kilometres) so that the team could
recover a little. It was really hard because of the undulations.
There wasn't even one metre of really flat roads.
"But when the break was caught, we
had to react quick. Yesterday (Tuesday) it was a bunch sprint
as well but I was caught in the middle and I didn't want to make
that mistake again. With one kilometre to go I was already brought
to the front and at 400m to go, I was on my own. In the final
200 metres, I made a move to the left, then to the right and from
then on saw it was all mine."
The Asian riders' jersey remained with Meitan
Hompo-GDR's Shinichi Fukushima for a fifth day.
Today's Stage Six is expected to be another
gruelling run from Bandar Penawar to Kuala Rompin which features
similar terrain to yesterday's stage but on a longer 182km route.
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