Recently on Cyclingnews.com |
 Giro finale Photo ©: Bettini |
Tour of Thailand - 2.2
Thailand, December 16-21, 2007
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 4 - December 19: Loei - Chattakarn Waterfall National Park, 214 km
Kazemi wins "toughest stage"
By Steve Thomas
|
It was all change today in the Tour of Thailand. The race finally hit the mountains - and in no uncertain style. The stage distance was epic in itself - 214 kilometres, but add in the terrain and it became one of the toughest days racing ever seen in Asia. Eventual winner Ahar Kazemi of Iran confirmed, "It's the toughest stage of any race in Asia, and I've ridden most of them. It was very long and hot, but the hills were really tough. They were very steep and long, and none stop; there was no rest in between them."
This was the first time this particular route had been used in the Tour, and it proved to be epic, if not too epic for many riders. Within an hour of racing the climbing started, gently at first, but then the riders hit the first of the serious climbs, an ultra steep beast which forced some riders to their feet. And that was just the start of it. The field ripped apart at the seams with the relentless climbing, and as anticipated the Iranians were at the head of affairs, along with Asian veteran Tonton Susanto.
By the time the late afternoon finish came along, after more than six hot hours in the saddle Kazemi crossed the line ahead of Susanto and fellow Iranian Jahanbanian Hossein. With two long hard days ahead, the trio also comfortably hold the top three positions on GC.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Steve Thomas
- Attacks went from the gun.
- How much longer do I have to suffer?
- Paul Griffin of Giant ART leads the field in the early stages of the race.
- Long shadows on a long day
- The yellow jersey was to lose big time today.
- An Iranian rider looks back following an attack on the first steep climb.
- It was seriously steep, as the Iranain team manager demonstrates.
- A Kuota-Sengas rider curses the gradient.
- Ahad Kazemi made his move just before the KOM. He was soon joined by a team-mate and Tonton Susanto
- Tonton Susanto takes up the chase for Denmark's Team Farso.
- The third placed Iranian rider chases down Tonton Susanto (Faeso Denmark).
- An Iranian rider and Prajak Mahawong (Thailand), the race's first leader, fight to stay in contention.
- Tonton Susanto (Faeso Denmark) leads the breakaway, and shows the strain
- With 30km to go the leaders tackle the last rise of the stage.
- After a long day at work it's all smiles for Ahad Sarai Kazemi (Tabriz Petrochem)
- One very happy, and tired Iranian
- Paul Griffin of Giant ART leads home the chasers.
- Stage four podium.
- The leading trio
Results
1 Ahad Sarai Kazemi (IRI) Tabriz Petrochem 6.08.08 (34.88 km/h) 2 Tonton Susanto (Ina) Faeso Denmark 3 Jahanbanian Hossein (IRI) Tabriz Petrochem 4 Paul Griffin (Irl) Giant Asia Racing 3.31 5 Masakazu Ito (Jpn) Japan 6 Patnk Tybor (Svk) Dukla Trencin 7 Lloyd Lucien Reynante (Phi) Philippines 8 Okan Bualoi (Tha) Thailand 9 Soren Peterson (Den) Kuota Senges 10 Prajak Mahawong (Tha) Thailand 11 Akira Kakinuma (Jpn) Japan 12 Irish Valenzuela (Phi) Philippines 13 Yoshimitsu Hiratsuka (Jpn) Japan 14 Victor Espiritu (Phi) Philippines 15 Suhardi Hassan (Mas) Malaysia 11.19 16 Muhammad Fauzan Ahmad Lufti (Mas) Malaysia 17 Phuchong Sai-Udomsin (Tha) Thailand 18 Kuan Hua Lai (Tpe) Giant Asia Racing 18.18 19 Ryan Ariham (Ina) Faeso Denmark 18.22 20 Panup Koonrungruangkit (Tha) Thailand 21 Matej Vyssna (Svk) Dukla Trencin 22 Nguyen Hung Mai (Vie) Vietnam 19.47 23 Agung Alisyahbana (Ina) Customs Cycling 24 Seree Ruangsiri (Tha) All Star Thailand 25 Trung Hieu Dang (Vie) Vietnam 26 Shiri Sisan Hamid (IRI) Tabriz Petrochem 27 Endra Wijaya (Ina) Customs Cycling 28 Badr Mohammed Banihammead (UAE) United Arab Emirates 29 Warren Davadilla (Phi) Philippines 30 Cong Hieu Mai (Vie) Vietnam 31 Phat Dat Trinh (Vie) Vietnam 32 Mitsuhiro Matsumura (Jpn) Matrix Powetag 21.42 34 Edi Purnomo (Ina) Customs Cycling 36 Natthapon Jeebthaworn (Tha) Thailand 36 Christoph von Kleinsorgen (Ger) Kuota Senges 37 Lex Nederlof (Ned) Ysselstreek 38 Thomas Just (Den) Faeso Denmark 39 Kohei Uchima (Jpn) Japan 40 Alexander van Bavel (Ned) Ysselstreek 41 Nicholas Dale Swallow (Sin) Cycleworx Singapore 42 Bjorn Glasner (Ger) Kuota Senges 43 Muhammad Faris Abdul Razak (Mas) Malaysia 44 Seiichi Koshiumi (Jpn) Japan 45 Ronald Gorantes (Phi) Philippines 46 Hsiang Kuei (Tpe) Giant Asia Racing 47 Wim Spijkerboer (Ned) Ysselstreek 48 Jan Sipeky (Svk) Dukla Trencin 49 Masahiko Mifune (Jpn) Matrix Powetag 12.42 50 Maros Kovac (Svk) Dukla Trencin 21.42 51 Yuli Haryanto (Ina) Customs Cycling 47.00 52 Jurag Sagan (Svk) Dukla Trencin 53 Jatuphoom Lekhawat (Tha) All Star Thailand 54 Matthias Berting (Ger) Kuota Senges 56 Morten Knudsen (Den) Faeso Denmark 56 Daisuke Hioki (Jpn) Matrix Powetag 57 Yoshimitsu Tsuji (Jpn) Matrix Powetag 58 Wakumoto Masaki (Jpn) Matrix Powetag 59 Muhammad Rauf Nur Nisbah (Mas) Malaysia General Classification after Stage 4 1 Ahad Sarai Kazemi (IRI) Tabriz Petrochem 2 Tonton Susanto (Ina) Faeso Denmark 3 Jahanbanian Hossein (IRI) Tabriz Petrochem 4 Prajak Mahawong (Tha) Thailand 5 Irish Valenzuela (Phi) Philippines 6 Okan Bualoi (Tha) Thailand 7 Paul Griffin (Irl) Giant Asia Racing 8 Lloyd Lucien Reynante (Phi) Philippines 9 Soren Peterson (Den) Kuota Senges 10 Akira Kakinuma (Jpn) Japan 11 Masakazu Ito (Jpn) Japan 12 Suhardi Hassan (Mas) Malaysia 13 Phuchong Sai-Udomsin (Tha) Thailand 14 Yuli Haryanto (Ina) Customs Cycling 15 Yoshimitsu Hiratsuka (Jpn) Japan 16 Victor Espiritu (Phi) Philippines 17 Malaya van Ruitenbeek (Ned) Kuota Senges 18 Kuan Hua Lai (Tpe) Giant Asia Racing 19 Muhammad Fauzan Ahmad Lufti (Mas) Malaysia 20 Nguyen Hung Mai (Vie) Vietnam 21 Warren Davadilla (Phi) Philippines 22 Shiri Sisan Hamid (IRI) Tabriz Petrochem 23 Badr Mohammed Banihammead (UAE) United Arab Emirates 24 Maros Kovac (Svk) Dukla Trencin 25 Kohei Uchima (Jpn) Japan 26 Thomas Just (Den) Faeso Denmark 27 Hsiang Kuei (Tpe) Giant Asia Racing 28 Jan Sipeky (Svk) Dukla Trencin 29 Ryan Ariham (Ina) Faeso Denmark 30 Matej Vyssna (Svk) Dukla Trencin 31 Agung Alisyahbana (Ina) Customs Cycling 32 Seree Ruangsiri (Tha) All Star Thailand 33 Okan Bualoi (Tha) Thailand 34 Endra Wijaya (Ina) Customs Cycling 35 Cong Hieu Mai (Vie) Vietnam 36 Phat Dat Trinh (Vie) Vietnam 37 Masahiko Mifune (Jpn) Matrix Powetag 38 Christoph von Kleinsorgen (Ger) Kuota Senges 39 Mitsuhiro Matsumura (Jpn) Matrix Powetag 40 Panup Koonrungruangkit (Tha) Thailand 41 Edi Purnomo (Ina) Customs Cycling 42 Natthapon Jeebthaworn (Tha) Thailand 43 Lex Nederlof (Ned) Ysselstreek 44 Janaidi Bin Hashim (Sin) Cycleworx Singapore 45 Bjorn Glasner (Ger) Kuota Senges 46 Muhammad Faris Abdul Razak (Mas) Malaysia 47 Seiichi Koshiumi (Jpn) Japan 48 Ronald Gorantes (Phi) Philippines 49 Wim Spijkerboer (Ned) Ysselstreek 50 Alexander van Bavel (Ned) Ysselstreek 51 Jatuphoom Lekhawat (Tha) All Star Thailand 52 Jurag Sagan (Svk) Dukla Trencin 53 Muhammad Rauf Nur Nisbah (Mas) Malaysia 54 Matthias Berting (Ger) Kuota Senges 56 Tonton Susanto (Ina) Faeso Denmark 56 Yuli Haryanto (Ina) Customs Cycling 57 Daisuke Hioki (Jpn) Matrix Powetag
