Recently on Cyclingnews.com |
 Giro finale Photo ©: Bettini |
Jelajah Malaysia - 2.2
Malaysia, January 6-12, 2007
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 4 - January 9: Jeli - Gerik, 139.3 km
Iran takes it all
By Jean-François Quénet in Gerik
Located in the mountains of Malaysia close to the Thaï border, Gerik is a common hot spot for Le Tour de Langkawi. Here, Gianni Bugno won the second last race of his career just ten years ago. Since then, the globalization of cycling has gone on and it's now time for Iran to run the show on the international scene. Three Iranian cyclists contested the victory in the queen stage of Jelajah Malaysia three and half minutes ahead of a chase group comprising Asian Games' champion Wang Kam Po from Hong Kong.
Hossein Askari (Giant Asia) was the fastest to the line ahead of Mehdi Sohradi (Tabriz Petrochemical), who takes over as new race leader, and Ghader Mizbani (Giant Asia), who locked up the king of the mountains for good because this was the only stage with mountain prizes. So all three compatriots had something to celebrate at the end of the day.
"It was a hard race from start to finish," Askari commented. But the heavy rain at the beginning of the stage didn't prevent the Iranians from breaking away in the first of the three grueling climbs with still 100 kilometers to go. They quickly got rid of the Malaysian riders who had dared to go with them initially.
They reached Gerik eight minutes ahead of the fastest schedule. Their brutal action and the weather conditions caused the commissaires to extend the time cut to 20% instead of 12%."We knew this stage would decide the leader's and KOM's jerseys," Askari said. "We were prepared for doing this today. It's been a good day for our team with finishing first and third on the stage and winning the KOM."
Sohrabi who was in third position on GC with 25 seconds advantage on Askari since the first day became the new race leader in the red jersey. He took over from Japan's Makoto Iijima. "I knew Iijima would not be able to do much on the climbs, Sohrabi said. The next three days are flat. If my team can do well, it shouldn't be a problem to keep the lead till the end."
Now another race will start with Malaysian riders trying to gain their selection to the national team for Le Tour de Langkawi from February 2 to 11. The Jelajah Malaysia will end in Putrajaya - the home of Malaysian government - with a criterium on Friday.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Jean-François Quénet/Cyclingnews.com
- Top three of stage 4: Mehdi Sohrabi, Hossein Askari and Ghader Mizbani, all from Iran.
- Suhardi Hassan is now Malaysia’s best.
- Hossein Askari looking worried after winning!
- KOM is bagged for good for Ghader Mizbani.
- Sprinter Anuar Manan keeps the green jersey.
- Jerseys presentation with Mehdi Sohrabi, Ghader Mizbani, Anuar Manan, and Suhardi Hassan.
- Ghader Mizbani desperate to get questions.
Results
1 Hossein Ashkari (IRI) Giant Asia Racing Team 3.25.55 2 Mehdi Sohrabi (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 3 Ghader Mizbani (IRI) Giant Asia Racing Team 4 Bjorn Glasner (Ger) Team Farso Cycling 3.36 5 Kam Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 6 Amir Mustafa Rusli (Mas) Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia 7 Paul Griffin (Irl) Giant Asia Racing Team 8 Artemiy Timofeev (Rus) Polygon Sweet Nice 9 Suhardi Hassan (Mas) Kuala Lumpur 10 Pol Nabben (Ned) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team 11 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jpn) Japan National Team 12 Thomas Just (Den) Team Farso Cycling 13 Kuan Hua Lai (Tpe) Giant Asia Racing Team 14 Yevgeniy Yakolev (Kaz) Polygon Sweet Nice 15 Yan Dong Xing (Chn) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team 16 Mohammad Partoui (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 17 Mohd Rauf Nur Misbah (Mas) Malaysian National Team 18 Vyacheslav Dyadichkin (Kaz) Polygon Sweet Nice 19 Soren B Petersen (Den) Team Farso Cycling 20 Chun Hing Chan (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 21 Ahad Kazemi Sarai (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 22 Hossain Jahanbanian (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 23 Tong Yu (Chn) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team 3.41 24 Wang Yip Tang (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 6.40 25 Hari Fitrianto (Ina) Polygon Sweet Nice 26 Jared T Bunde (USA) Champion System Sommerville Sports 8.24 27 Hamid Shiri (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 28 Wibowo Adi (Ina) Benteng Muda Selangor 29 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Japan National Team 30 Khalid Shambih (UAE) United Arab Emirates National Team 31 Safwan Sawai (Mas) Malaysian National Team 32 Herwin Jaya (Ina) Polygon Sweet Nice 33 Taufiq Muhamad (Ina) Benteng Muda Selangor 34 Parno (Ina) Indonesian National Team 35 Kuei Hsiang Peng (Tpe) Giant Asia Racing Team 36 Stefan Rothe (Ger) Champion System Sommerville Sports 37 Thomas Bencivengo (USA) Champion System Sommerville Sports 38 Soren B Petersen (Den) Team Farso Cycling 39 Satoshi Hirose (Jpn) Japan National Team 40 Ahmed Al Doseri (Brn) Bahrain National Team 10.37 41 Ching Man Chung (HKg) Champion System Sommerville Sports 11.08 42 Mohd Jasmin Ruslan (Mas) Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia 15.35 43 Azizul Azli Shaari (Mas) Terengganu 44 Mohd Saiful Anuar Aziz (Mas) Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia 45 Nariyuki Masuda (Jpn) Japan National Team 15.50 46 Ahmed Alhanadsa (UAE) United Arab Emirates National Team 16.20 47 Fallanie Ali (Mas) Kuala Lumpur 16.25 48 Umardi Rosdi (Mas) Team Le Tua 49 Mohd Yusof Abd. Nasir (Mas) Benteng Muda Selangor 50 Rizuan Zainal (Mas) Team Le Tua 16.33 51 Mohd Zamri Salleh (Mas) Terengganu 52 Raziff Jaafar (Mas) Kuala Lumpur 53 Mohd Harrif Saleh (Mas) Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia 54 Anuar Manan (Mas) Team Le Tua 55 Weng Kin Thum (Mas) Malaysian National Team 56 Mohamad Faris Abd Razak (Mas) Malaysian National Team 57 Sayuti Mohd Zahit (Mas) Putrajaya 58 Harnizam Basri (Mas) Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia 59 Kin San Wu (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 60 Badr Bhanihammad (UAE) United Arab Emirates National Team 61 Chun Te Ching (Tpe) Giant Asia Racing Team 62 Kudentsov Sergey (Rus) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team 63 King Wai Cheung (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 64 Wim Spijkerboer (Ned) Team Farso Cycling 65 Kai Tsun Lam (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 66 Yoshiyuki Shimizu (Jpn) Japan National Team 67 Loh Sea Keong (Mas) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team 16.39 68 Muhammad Fauzan Ahmad Lutfi (Mas) Malaysian National Team 69 Radius Ginting (Ina) Benteng Muda Selangor 17.01 70 Md Asril A Rahman (Mas) Pahang 17.09 71 Khairul Naim Azhar (Mas) Putrajaya 19.30 72 Kurniawan Kurniawan (Ina) Pahang 22.33 73 Iman Suparman (Ina) Benteng Muda Selangor 23.09 74 Mumuh Muhsin (Ina) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 75 Endra Wijaya (Ina) Indonesian National Team 29.57 76 Sayed Ahmed Alawi (Brn) Bahrain National Team 77 Agung Ali Sahbana (Ina) Indonesian National Team 78 Firdaus Daud (Mas) Putrajaya 79 Yoshinori Iino (Jpn) Japan National Team 80 Mohd Hafiz Rozli (Mas) Pahang 32.21 81 Ting Pong Lam (HKg) Champion System Sommerville Sports 36.19 82 Najmee Wan Mohd (Mas) Kuala Lumpur 36.21 83 Sazlee Ismail (Mas) Kuala Lumpur 84 Mohamad Anuar Mohamed Zam (Mas) Terengganu 37.48 85 David Sommerville (USA) Champion System Sommerville Sports 86 Aang Zuanda (Ina) Indonesian National Team 87 Jamal Aldoseri (Brn) Bahrain National Team 88 Haidar Ahmad (Mas) Team Le Tua 89 Iwan Setiawan (Ina) Indonesian National Team 41.04 90 Fuad Daud (Mas) Putrajaya 91 Jesper Norgaard Lund (Den) Team Farso Cycling DNF Badr Shambih (UAE) United Arab Emirates National Team DNF Ebrahim Hussein Ahmed (Brn) Bahrain National Team DNF Thijs Zonneveld (Ned) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team DNF Zaki Nasir (Mas) Team Le Tua DNF Mohd Akmal Amrun (Mas) Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia DNF Mohd Saiful Fazli Zakaria (Mas) Pahang DNF Shah Adam Mohd Arifin (Mas) Pahang DNF Mohd Khairuz Abd. Ghani (Mas) Pahang DNF Stanley Jalip Jr. (Mas) Putrajaya DNF Fahmi Tajuddin (Mas) Putrajaya DNF Syed Mohd Hussaini Syed Mazlan (Mas) Terengganu DNF Mohd Arif Syukri Ahmad Sabil (Mas) Terengganu General classification after stage 4 1 Mehdi Sohrabi (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 11.40.49 2 Hossein Ashkari (IRI) Giant Asia Racing Team 0.23 3 Thomas Just (Den) Team Farso Cycling 3.53 4 Hossain Jahanbanian (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 4.09 5 Chun Hing Chan (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 6 Kam Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 4.11 7 Paul Griffin (Irl) Giant Asia Racing Team 8 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jpn) Japan National Team 9 Nathan Dahlberg (NZl) Team Farso Cycling 10 Vyacheslav Dyadichkin (Kaz) Polygon Sweet Nice 11 Pol Nabben (Ned) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team 4.17 12 Tong Yu (Chn) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team 4.33 13 Ghader Mizbani (IRI) Giant Asia Racing Team 4.39 14 Ahad Kazemi Sarai (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 6.22 15 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Japan National Team 7.54 16 Artemiy Timofeev (Rus) Polygon Sweet Nice 8.08 17 Mohammad Partoui (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 8.09 18 Yevgeniy Yakolev (Kaz) Polygon Sweet Nice 19 Suhardi Hassan (Mas) Kuala Lumpur 8.12 20 Amir Mustafa Rusli (Mas) Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia 21 Yan Dong Xing (Chn) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team 22 Kuan Hua Lai (Tpe) Giant Asia Racing Team 23 Bjorn Glasner (Ger) Team Farso Cycling 8.35 24 Safwan Sawai (Mas) Malaysian National Team 8.59 25 Stefan Rothe (Ger) Champion System Sommerville Sports 26 Satoshi Hirose (Jpn) Japan National Team 27 Hari Fitrianto (Ina) Polygon Sweet Nice 9.23 28 Mohd Rauf Nur Misbah (Mas) Malaysian National Team 10.27 29 Jared T Bunde (USA) Champion System Sommerville Sports 10.58 30 Wang Yip Tang (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 11.16 31 Kuei Hsiang Peng (Tpe) Giant Asia Racing Team 12.57 32 Hamid Shiri (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 13.00 33 Khalid Shambih (UAE) United Arab Emirates National Team 34 Herwin Jaya (Ina) Polygon Sweet Nice 35 Soren B Petersen (Den) Team Farso Cycling 13.11 36 Thomas Bencivengo (USA) Champion System Sommerville Sports 13.25 37 Parno (Ina) Indonesian National Team 15.00 38 Wibowo Adi (Ina) Benteng Muda Selangor 15.02 39 Taufiq Muhamad (Ina) Benteng Muda Selangor 15.12 40 Kai Tsun Lam (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 16.10 41 Anuar Manan (Mas) Team Le Tua 16.52 42 Ahmed Alhanadsa (UAE) United Arab Emirates National Team 16.55 43 Kudentsov Sergey (Rus) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team 17.04 44 Mohd Zamri Salleh (Mas) Terengganu 17.06 45 Badr Bhanihammad (UAE) United Arab Emirates National Team 17.08 46 Chun Te Ching (Tpe) Giant Asia Racing Team 47 Ahmed Al Doseri (Brn) Bahrain National Team 17.28 48 Radius Ginting (Ina) Benteng Muda Selangor 17.36 49 Ching Man Chung (HKg) Champion System Sommerville Sports 17.46 50 Rizuan Zainal (Mas) Team Le Tua 18.16 51 Kin San Wu (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 19.10 52 Sayuti Mohd Zahit (Mas) Putrajaya 53 Mohd Saiful Anuar Aziz (Mas) Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia 20.05 54 Mohd Yusof Abd. Nasir (Mas) Benteng Muda Selangor 21.01 55 Harnizam Basri (Mas) Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia 21.09 56 Raziff Jaafar (Mas) Kuala Lumpur 57 Mohamad Faris Abd Razak (Mas) Malaysian National Team 58 Mohd Harrif Saleh (Mas) Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia 21.20 59 Loh Sea Keong (Mas) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team 21.28 60 Muhammad Fauzan Ahmad Lutfi (Mas) Malaysian National Team 61 Azizul Azli Shaari (Mas) Terengganu 21.44 62 Mohd Jasmin Ruslan (Mas) Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia 22.21 63 Weng Kin Thum (Mas) Malaysian National Team 23.08 64 King Wai Cheung (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 23.11 65 Nariyuki Masuda (Jpn) Japan National Team 66 Fallanie Ali (Mas) Kuala Lumpur 23.13 67 Umardi Rosdi (Mas) Team Le Tua 23.40 68 Yoshiyuki Shimizu (Jpn) Japan National Team 23.54 69 Wim Spijkerboer (Ned) Team Farso Cycling 24.53 70 Khairul Naim Azhar (Mas) Putrajaya 26.31 71 Kurniawan Kurniawan (Ina) Pahang 29.22 72 Mumuh Muhsin (Ina) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 29.56 73 Iman Suparman (Ina) Benteng Muda Selangor 30.10 74 Firdaus Daud (Mas) Putrajaya 33.55 75 Sayed Ahmed Alawi (Brn) Bahrain National Team 34.33 76 Endra Wijaya (Ina) Indonesian National Team 77 Md Asril A Rahman (Mas) Pahang 35.36 78 Agung Ali Sahbana (Ina) Indonesian National Team 36.35 79 Mohd Hafiz Rozli (Mas) Pahang 39.12 80 Yoshinori Iino (Jpn) Japan National Team 39.14 81 Sazlee Ismail (Mas) Kuala Lumpur 40.57 82 Jamal Aldoseri (Brn) Bahrain National Team 42.24 83 Haidar Ahmad (Mas) Team Le Tua 84 Ting Pong Lam (HKg) Champion System Sommerville Sports 42.57 85 Najmee Wan Mohd (Mas) Kuala Lumpur 43.11 86 Mohamad Anuar Mohamed Zam (Mas) Terengganu 44.23 87 David Sommerville (USA) Champion System Sommerville Sports 44.26 88 Aang Zuanda (Ina) Indonesian National Team 44.36 89 Fuad Daud (Mas) Putrajaya 46.18 90 Jesper Norgaard Lund (Den) Team Farso Cycling 47.35 91 Iwan Setiawan (Ina) Indonesian National Team 47.49
