Stage 1 - February 1: Putrajaya ITT, 20.3kmHunter wins TT opener in Mapei blitzBy Tommy Campbell in Putrajaya The Telekom Malaysia Tour de Langkawi 2002 got off to a flying start for the Commonwealth contingent with a 1-2-3 in the opening time trial stage at the new Malay government city of Putrajaya, just outside Kuala Lumpur. Blonde haired South African ace Robert Hunter (Mapei-Quick Step), looking fit and tanned, gave a scintillating performance on the far from easy 20.3 km time trial course to notch a devastating 43.19 sec victory over last year's winner against the watch, Nathan O'Neill (Panaria), of Australia, with Canada's Eric Wohlberg in third place. In 2001, the 'race of truth' had come with just one day of the race left to run. This time out it provided an impressive opener that for many seemed to provide the definite shape of things to come. With Italy's hotly fancied Mapei-Quickstep team, winners in three previous editions, not only providing the stage winner but finishing two more riders in the top six to take the day's team prize. Best known as a sprint finish exponent, with a stage win in the prestigious Vuelta a España to his credit last year, Hunter is no stranger to the time trial speciality, being a former national champion (2000) at the discipline. Just before Malaysian prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad slipped the race leader's yellow jersey over his broad shoulders, the very fit looking Robert Hunter revealed that he knew he was on a good ride but not that he was going to win by such a decisive margin: "My team manager, Eric Vanderaerden, kept banging on the car door and screaming at me to up the pace but I really didn't know just how much of a flyer I was on," he told the press pack. Eight seconds up at half-distance, Hunter got stronger as his ride progressed: "I felt good all the way round," he said. Said a confident Hunter: "Mapei-Quickstep is a very strong team and we have won the Tour de Langkawi three times before. The aim will be to defend my yellow jersey and to try to make sure that if it does leave my shoulders then it will be another of our men who will take over the race leadership." Hunter's outstanding performance in the time trial was backed by his Mapei-Quickstep teammates David Canada Garcia of Spain, fifth with a 25 min 49.03 sec ride, and hugely popular Italian rider Andrea Tafi, who clocked 26 min 8.35 sec for sixth position, despite suffering a puncture after eight kilometres. "I was moving very well and then..." said Andrea. Missing from Mapei's line-up this year is last year's overall winner, Paolo Lanfranchi but this classy rider is very much in the race, riding this time for the Index-Alexia Alluminio squad. He finished 13th in the time trial, conceding 1 min 28.65 sec to the winner but is expected to really shine on the tough climbs to come. A strong challenge in the Tour is also expected from Belgium's Lotto-Adecco team, currently ranked fifth in the world rankings and boasting real strength in depth. Fastest Asian rider in the time trial was Arnel Quirimit of the Philippines, who finished 12th, in 26 min 23 sec. Team Telekom Malaysia suffered an early set-back when their highly experienced New Zealander Graeme Miller, at 41 the oldest man in the race, went off course. This resulted in him finishing 151st and last, a crippling 12 min 54 sec behind the winner. The event will now wind along Malaysia's west coast before returning towards Kuala Lumpur and the eagerly anticipated mountain stage up to Genting Highlands on day nine, followed by a concluding criterium stage around 12 laps of a 6.3 km circuit in the centre of downtown Kuala Lumpur.
Results1 Robert Hunter (RSA) Mapei-Quick Step 24.57,17 (48.81 km/h) 2 Nathan O'Neill (Aus) Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo 0.43,19 3 Eric Wohlberg (Can) Canada 0.45,06 4 Artour Babaitsev (Rus) Team Nürnberger 0.46,70 5 David Canada Garcia (Spa) Mapei-Quick Step 0.51,86 6 Andrea Tafi (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 1.11,18 7 Jorgen Bo Petersen (Den) Team fakta 1.14,01 8 Charles Wegelius (GBr) Mapei-Quick Step 1.15,78 9 Hernan Dario Munoz (Col) Colombia-Selle Italia 1.22,92 10 Luca Scinto (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 1.23,05 11 Lubor Tesar (Cze) Team Nürnberger 1.25,04 12 Arnel Quirimit (Phi) Philippines 1.26,30 13 Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita) Index-Alexia Alluminio 1.28,65 14 David Fernandez Domingo (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 1.30,54 15 Sergiy Matveyev (Ukr) Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo 1.32,02 16 Mickael Pichon (Fra) Team Bonjour 1.34,40 17 Alberto Elli (Ita) Index-Alexia Alluminio 1.40,53 18 Brett Lancaster (Aus) iTeamNova.com 1.46,26 19 Lennie Kristensen (Den) Team fakta 1.46,65 20 Davide Bramati (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 1.49,52 21 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Canada 2.00,06 22 Stefano Guerrini (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo 2.02,34 23 Ghader Mizbani (Iri) Telekom Malaysia 2.03,99 24 Eddy Serri (Ita) Index-Alexia Alluminio 2.04,27 25 Antonio Salomone (Ita) Index-Alexia Alluminio 2.08,41 26 Morten Sonne (Den) Team fakta 2.09,02 27 René Joergensen (Den) Team fakta 2.10,11 28 Jamie Peter Drew (Aus) iTeamNova.com 2.11,78 29 Allan Bo Andresen (Den) Team fakta 2.15,66 30 Oscar Laguna Garcia (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 2.17,53 31 Jens Voigt (Ger) Credit Agricole 2.20,18 32 German Nieto Fernandez (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 2.20,58 33 Björnar Vestöl (Nor) Team fakta 2.20,73 34 César Garcia Calvo (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 2.21,05 35 Russel Downing (GBr) iTeamNova.com 2.22,77 36 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Japan 2.24,32 37 Max Becker (Lux) Collstrop-Palmans 2.24,89 38 Allan Iacuone (Aus) iTeamNova.com 2.26,23 39 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole 2.28,65 40 Mario Aerts (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 2.29,06 41 Tony Bracke (Bel) Collstrop-Palmans 2.29,12 42 Yan Tournier (Fra) Credit Agricole 2.29,53 43 Eric De Clercq (Bel) Collstrop-Palmans 2.29,81 44 Kazuya Okazaki (Jpn) Japan 2.29,94 45 Tonton Susanto (Ina) Telekom Malaysia 2.30,49 46 Frédéric Amorison (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 2.32,04 47 David Vazquez Garcia (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 2.33,70 48 Ruber Alveiro Marin (Col) Colombia-Selle Italia 2.34,18 49 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 2.34,83 50 Marco Battiston (Ita) Index-Alexia Alluminio 2.39,34 51 Charles Guilbert (Fra) Team Bonjour 2.40,45 52 Andris Reiss (Lat) Index-Alexia Alluminio 2.42,25 53 Kyrylo Pospyeyev (Ukr) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 2.44,33 54 Stive Vermaut (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 2.44,44 55 Kurt Van Lancker (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 2.44,66 56 Fulco Van Gulik (Ned) Lotto-Adecco 2.44,72 57 Antoni Rizzi (Ita) Mobilvetta-Formaggio Trentini 2.46,81 58 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Japan 2.49,40 59 Denis Bondarenko (Rus) Mobilvetta-Formaggio Trentini 2.49,45 60 Jurgen Werner (Ger) Team Nürnberger 2.49,87 61 Dominique Perras (Can) iTeamNova.com 2.50,56 62 Laurent Estadieu (Fra) Ag2r Prevoyance 2.50,87 63 Uros Murn (Slo) Mobilvetta-Formaggio Trentini 2.52,09 64 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Team Bonjour 2.52,66 65 Alessandro Brendolin (Ita) Mobilvetta-Formaggio Trentini 2.56,92 66 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Team Bonjour 2.58,80 67 Hans De Meester (Bel) Collstrop-Palmans 3.01,30 68 Fortunato Baliani (Ita) Colombia-Selle Italia 3.04,36 69 Paolo Fornaciari (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 3.04,94 70 Andy Flickinger (Fra) Ag2r Prevoyance 3.06,50 71 Douglas Ryder (RSA) Rep South Africa 3.06,56 72 Graeme Brown (Aus) Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo 3.07,27 73 David George (RSA) Rep South Africa 3.07,67 74 Linas Balciunas (Ltu) Ag2r Prevoyance 3.09,74 75 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Team Bonjour 3.10,54 76 Samuel Vecchi (Ita) Mobilvetta-Formaggio Trentini 3.10,88 77 Leonardo Scarselli (Ita) Colombia-Selle Italia 3.19,77 78 Jorge Capitan Peregrina (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 3.22,03 79 José M Vazquez Palomo (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 3.22,73 80 Alexandre Grux (Fra) Ag2r Prevoyance 3.28,77 81 Mario Traversoni (Ita) Mobilvetta-Formaggio Trentini 3.31,61 82 Hendrik Van Dyck (Bel) Collstrop-Palmans 3.32,00 83 Ronny Lauke (Ger) Team Nürnberger 3.32,04 84 Jacques Fullard (RSA) Rep South Africa 3.32,41 85 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Japan 3.32,70 86 Yohann Charpenteau (Fra) Credit Agricole 3.32,93 87 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Team Bonjour 3.34,61 88 Scott Guyton (NZl) iTeamNova.com 3.35,00 89 Josh Hall (Can) Canada 3.35,35 90 Juan D Ramirez Calderon (Col) Colombia-Selle Italia 3.36,07 91 Enrico Degano (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo 3.36,81 92 Cristiano Parrinello (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo 3.38,19 93 Mark Ernsting (Can) Canada 3.39,49 94 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Credit Agricole 3.44,30 95 Geoff Kabush (Can) Canada 3.45,86 96 Daniel Spence (RSA) Rep South Africa 3.45,88 97 Andrew Pinfold (Can) Canada 3.48,42 98 Jürgen Pauritsch (Aut) Team Nürnberger 3.49,09 99 Daniele Galli (Ita) Index-Alexia Alluminio 3.49,78 100 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Bonjour 3.51,12 101 Ahad Kazemi (Iri) Telekom Malaysia 3.51,47 102 Ludovic Martin (Fra) Credit Agricole 3.53,90 103 Emilito Atilano (Phi) Philippines 3.56,82 104 Ruben Lobato Elvira (Spa) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 3.56,94 105 Nicola Chesini (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo 3.59,16 106 Shahrulneeza Razali (Mas) Malaysia 3.59,76 107 Musairi Bin Musa (Mas) Telekom Malaysia 4.00,84 108 Rodney Green (RSA) Rep South Africa 4.01,05 109 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Ag2r Prevoyance 4.02,59 110 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 4.03,53 111 Moreno Di Biase (Ita) Mobilvetta-Formaggio Trentini 4.06,73 112 Agustin Pena Gago (Spa) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 4.07,41 113 Wesley Van Speybroeck (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 4.08,73 114 Holger Sievers (Ger) Team Nürnberger 4.12,61 115 Villamor Baluyut (Phi) Philippines 4.13,87 116 Andris Nauduzs (Lat) Colombia-Selle Italia 4.14,76 117 Ah Tiam Wong (Mas) Malaysia 4.15,15 118 Guozhang Wang (Chn) China 4.15,54 119 Karl Pauwels (Bel) Collstrop-Palmans 4.15,64 120 Muhd. Jasmin Ruslan (Mas) Malaysia 4.18,75 121 Koji Fukushima (Jpn) Japan 4.22,78 122 Lorenzo Cardellini (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 4.24,09 123 James Ball (RSA) Rep South Africa 4.24,48 124 Trent Wilson (Aus) iTeamNova.com 4.29,04 125 Mikhaylo Khalilov (Ukr) Colombia-Selle Italia 4.31,10 126 Guo Hui (Chn) China 4.33,55 127 Jeremy Maartens (RSA) Rep South Africa 4.40,14 128 Seong Hoong Tsen (Mas) Malaysia 4.42,03 129 Kam-Po Wong (HKg) Telekom Malaysia 4.46,27 130 Victor Espiritu (Phi) Philippines 4.47,41 131 Enrique Domingo (Phi) Philippines 4.51,75 132 Glan Rendall (Can) Canada 4.52,51 133 Shahrizan Selamat (Mas) Malaysia 4.52,74 134 Warren Davadilla (Phi) Philippines 4.53,40 135 Mitsuteru Tanaka (Jpn) Japan 4.59,72 136 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Team fakta 5.06,22 137 Nor Affendy Rosli (Mas) Telekom Malaysia 5.18,26 138 Nicolas Inaudi (Fra) Ag2r Prevoyance 5.24,91 139 Merculio Ramos (Phi) Philippines 5.27,95 140 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Japan 5.31,27 141 Cesare Di Cintio (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 5.33,97 142 Suhardi Hassan (Mas) Malaysia 5.47,54 143 Yongbiao Zhu (Chn) China 5.59,04 144 Dirk Schumann (Ger) Team Nürnberger 6.03,96 145 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Collstrop-Palmans 6.14,05 146 Xueli Jiang (Chn) China 6.26,14 147 Mohd Yusof Abd. Nasir (Mas) Malaysia 6.40,21 148 Shuhai Song (Chn) China 6.42,38 149 Hongwei Li (Chn) China 7.25,32 150 Innar Mandoja (Est) Ag2r Prevoyance 9.27,30 151 Graeme Miller (NZl) Telekom Malaysia 12.54,38 Points 1 Robert Hunter (RSA) Mapei-Quick Step 15 pts 2 Nathan O'Neill (Aus) Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo 14 3 Eric Wohlberg (Can) Canada 13 4 Artour Babaitsev (Rus) Team Nürnberger 12 5 David Canada Garcia (Spa) Mapei-Quick Step 11 6 Andrea Tafi (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 10 7 Jorgen Bo Petersen (Den) Team fakta 9 8 Charles Wegelius (GBr) Mapei-Quick Step 8 9 Hernan Dario Munoz (Col) Colombia-Selle Italia 7 10 Luca Scinto (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 6 11 Lubor Tesar (Cze) Team Nürnberger 5 12 Arnel Quirimit (Phi) Philippines 4 13 Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita) Index-Alexia Alluminio 3 14 David Fernandez Domingo (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 2 15 Sergiy Matveyev (Ukr) Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo 1 Asian Rider 1 Arnel Quirimit (Phi) Philippines 26.23 2 Ghader Mizbani (Iri) Telekom Malaysia 0.37 3 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Japan 0.58 4 Kazuya Okazaki (Jpn) Japan 1.03 5 Tonton Susanto (Ina) Telekom Malaysia 1.04 6 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Japan 1.23 7 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Japan 2.06 8 Ahad Kazemi (Iri) Telekom Malaysia 2.25 9 Emilito Atilano (Phi) Philippines 2.30 10 Shahrulneeza Razali (Mas) Malaysia 2.33 11 Musairi Bin Musa (Mas) Telekom Malaysia 2.34 12 Villamor Baluyut (Phi) Philippines 2.47 13 Ah Tiam Wong (Mas) Malaysia 2.48 14 Guozhang Wang (Chn) China 2.49 15 Muhd. Jasmin Ruslan (Mas) Malaysia 2.52 16 Koji Fukushima (Jpn) Japan 2.56 17 Guo Hui (Chn) China 3.07 18 Seong Hoong Tsen (Mas) Malaysia 3.15 19 Kam-Po Wong (HKg) Telekom Malaysia 3.19 20 Victor Espiritu (Phi) Philippines 3.21 21 Enrique Domingo (Phi) Philippines 3.25 22 Shahrizan Selamat (Mas) Malaysia 3.26 23 Warren Davadilla (Phi) Philippines 3.27 24 Mitsuteru Tanaka (Jpn) Japan 3.33 25 Nor Affendy Rosli (Mas) Telekom Malaysia 3.51 26 Merculio Ramos (Phi) Philippines 4.01 27 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Japan 4.04 28 Suhardi Hassan (Mas) Malaysia 4.21 29 Yongbiao Zhu (Chn) China 4.32 30 Xueli Jiang (Chn) China 4.59 31 Mohd Yusof Abd. Nasir (Mas) Malaysia 5.13 32 Shuhai Song (Chn) China 5.16 33 Hongwei Li (Chn) China 5.59 Teams 1 Mapei - Quick Step 1.16.54 2 Ceramiche Panaria 2.14 3 Team Nürnberger 2.58 4 Team Fakta 3.06 5 Alexia Alluminio 3.09 6 Relax - Fuenlabrada 4.04 7 iTeamNova.com 4.16 8 Canada 4.17 9 Colombia-Selle Italia 4.58 10 Bonjour 5.03 11 Credit Agricole 5.14 12 Palmans-Collstrop 5.20 13 Lotto - Adecco 5.33 14 Japan 5.40 15 Telekom Malaysia 6.22 16 Mobilvetta Design 6.24 17 Ag2r Prevoyance 7.03 18 Philippines 7.33 19 Rep South Africa 7.42 20 Acqua & Sapone 8.41 21 Malaysia 10.29 22 China 12.44 Asian Team 1 Japan 1.22.34 2 Telekom Malaysia 0.42 3 Philippines 1.53 4 Malaysia 4.49 5 China 7.04 Results courtesy of Seamus Shortall/www.tdl.com.my
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