Clerc grabs hold of green jersey
NST, 14/2/2008

THE battle of sprinters for Le Tour de Langkawi's (LTdL) Milo green jersey hit a high note yesterday with Bouygues Telecom's Aurelien Clerc taking control, but Le Tua's Anuar Manan stays close behind, promising to take the fight to the finish.

Swiss rider Clerc, 29, brought his total to 54 points by taking first spot in the first intermediate sprint and second in the following two before he concluded the stage with a third place finish behind stage winner Alberto Loddo of Tinkoff Credit Systems and CSF-Navigare's Mauro Richeze.

Anuar, who fought for the first intermediate sprint but ended without a point, won the second and finished sixth in the stage to bring his total to 47 points.

"I'm disappointed but the team gave today's (yesterday's) stage what we had and stayed in the fight," said Anuar.

"In the first sprint, we made a mistake as I thought of going on my own but ended with nothing. The second sprint, we went with a lead-out and I got all five points, and in the third we could do nothing because there was a breakaway.

"We lost the jersey but there are still four more stages in which we can try to get it back. That is our aim."

Clerc said going for the intermediate sprints was mainly to take pressure off teammate Mattieu Sprick's overall lead which is under threat from Drapac-Porsche's Mitchell Docker, who is just a second behind.

"It is good for the team to have both jerseys but it is always better not to have too many goals," said Clerc.

"I have the green jersey and if I still have it on Sunday it will be good, but it isn't our main goal.

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