Anuar creates history as Asia
dominates
11/2/2008
BANTING (11 Feb, 2008) – Malaysia’s
Anuar Manan created sporting history for the hosts when he sensationally
finished second in Stage 3 today to claim the nation’s first-ever
green jersey on a day when South Korean Lee Won Jae won his first
stage in Le Tour de Langkawi.
Anuar won all three intermediate sprints
and was aiming for a storming finish in Banting when he was caught
by Won Jae one kilometer from the end. The duo paved the way for
a remarkable day for the Asian riders who took up the top five
spots today.
The five were part of a successful breakaway
just before the first sprint in Sungai Besar at the 78.0 km mark.
“There is a feeling of dissatisfaction
for sure as I thought that being the sprinter in the five-man
breakaway, I could have done better than finishing second,”
said Anuar.
“There was a breakaway at the last
kilometer from Lee but by then, there was little that we could
do. But at the same time, I must admit that I feel proud to wear
the green jersey as this is the first time that a Malaysian is
in it and I must thank my team for all the hard work.”
The early attacks from Loh See Keong (Trek
Marco Polo), Mohd Fauzan Ahmad Lutfi (Malaysia) and later Yoshimasa
Hirose (Skil Shimano) failed to make the early impression as the
peloton stayed together for the first 50km which was covered in
the first hour.
Further escapes from Danilo Hondo (Serramenti
PVC), Yukiya Arashiro (Meitan Hompo), Li Fuuyu (Trek Marco Polo),
Peter McDonald (Drapac Porsche) hardly made a dent although Koji
Fukushima (Meitan Hompo) did go off to stretch to a 40seconds
lead at the front.
A second breakaway group saw Xing Yan Dong
(Trek Marco Polo), Lee, Fauzan and Anuar catching up to the lone
Japanese rider as the five then went off for Anuar to win his
first sprint in Sungai Besar, the Second Sprint in Kuala Selangor
and the Third Sprint in Kapar.
The peloton worked hard in the last 70km
to chase the five riders in front with CSF Navigare and Tinkoff
Credit Systems doing a lot of the work and despite the gallant
effort from Credit Agricole in the last 20km, there was no hope
of changing the inevitable as Won Jae made full use of his early
sprint at the last kilometer to ride all the way home.
“Prior to coming to Malaysia, I only
know of team Meitan Hompo who comes to Europe to ride in some
of the races and I know that Asian riders are quite aggressive,”
added Matthieu Sprick from team Bouygues Telecom who is still
in the leader’s yellow jersey.
“The win for Lee is good for cycling
and also for Le Tour de Langkawi.”
Added Won Jae: “I tried very hard
in this race and I never thought about winning.”
“But when I saw the chance,
my manager just told me to go for it.”
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