French outfit rider wins hill climb for first Tour of Langkawi victory
CAMERON HIGHLANDS: Saul Raisin of the French outfit, Credit Agricole, got his first victory in the 2006 Tour of Langkawi when he took Stage Three here Sunday.
In the race which saw the Tour's first big climb at Cameron Highlands, Raisin outsprinted Russian David George 100m from the finish to take the chequered flag.
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CATCHING UP ON THE NEWS: Team Ceramica Panaria-Navigare riders, Ruben Bongiorno (right) and Richeze Maximiliano (left) reading about their exploits in Stage Two of the Tour of Langkawi at Cameron Highlands yesterday. – BERNAMApic |
“I did not expect to win today's race because it was a hard race especially in the final climbing,” said Raisin after the race.
“At the last 4km before the finishing line, I broke away from the leading group of 14 riders and was followed closely by George,” he said.
George, riding for the South African national team, grabbed the yellow jersey as the overall winner yesterday, with a three-day time of 9'47:06s.
George, 30 has a 40-second advantage over Gabriele Missaglia in the overall standings.
Meanwhile, Lill Darren, also representing the South Africa national team finished third in yesterday, surprisingly outclassing the more established riders to win the King of the Mountain competition.
The Russian took the jersey from Francesco Bellotti of Credit Agricole after accumulating 35 points, ahead of his teammates George (31 points) and Edward Clancy of Great Britain team (20 points).
Takashi Miyazawa of the Japanese national team achieved a hattrick when he emerged for the third consecutive day as the best Asian rider overall with a 2:45 seconds lead over Hossein Askari from Giant-Asia team.
The Japanese national team also took the top spot in the Asian team category from Wismilak after registering a combined time of 30'07:30s, 12 minutes and 10 seconds ahead of the Giant-Asia team who were in the second spot.
Malaysia's best finisher was national rider Suhardi Hassan who recorded 4'14:36s to finish in 31st place followed by Shahrulneeza Razali (36th) and Ahmad Fallanie Ali (37th)
The Malaysian team remained in third place among the Asian teams, 16 minutes 41 seconds behind the Japanese.
Stage four today will be flagged off in Tapah and will end 142.2km away in Kuala Selangor. – Bernama
Source: The Star Online
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