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Jelajah Malaysia - 2.2
Malaysia, January 6-12, 2007
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Stage 5 - January 10: Sungai Petani - Taiping, 117.3 km
Hong Kong star switched from climbing to sprinting
By Jean-François Quénet in Taiping
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Hong Kong's Wang Kam Po was the first Asian rider to really make the headlines for beating Europeans and Americans when he dropped all them off in the Cameron Highlands on his way to what has remained a legendary stage victory at the 2000 Le Tour de Langkawi. Now he's more of a sprinter. Aged 34, he has created another surprise in winning the bunch sprint in stage 5 of Jelajah Malaysia in Taiping.
Just like the day before in the mountains, where Kam Po was still up there in the first chasing group behind the terrific Iranians, the peloton travelled at an unexpected high speed of 47km/h. They crossed the line 18 minutes before the fastest schedule. It shows how Asian cycling is getting closer and closer to the European standard of racing.
The Japan national team had contributed to the speed by launching many attacks after losing the red leader's jersey to Iran's Mehdi Sohrabi in Gerik. Ghader Mizbani has also paid his tribute to the action when he took place in a six-men breakaway in the third part of the stage. Reaching a maximum lead of 1.20, he forced Sohrabi's team Tabriz Petrochemical to pace hard in front of the bunch together with Marco Polo-Discovery Channel. "It was good to try and get the leader's jersey," Mizbani said. "I knew my chances were slim but I tried."
At the end, it was another bunch sprint. Malaysia awaited another stage win by their new sprinting sensation Anuar Manan from the Subang Jaya-based new continental team. But Wang Kam Po found a space in the wave far away from the line and he out-sprinted everyone.
"I came here with the target of at least winning a stage, and at the start of today I wanted to try and do it," he commented. "I know the GC is now quite difficult to reach, I actually knew before coming because I'm not in my best shape yet. I hope to peak for Le Tour de Langkawi next month."
Kam Po used to ride Le Tour de Langkawi for a combined team of Asian riders from different countries. For the first time he'll do it again with the local team he now leads, which is Pocari Sweat-Hong Kong with a bunch of young-guns all inspired by their living cycling legend who has proven his best days weren't necessarily behind him when he won the Asian Games title last month in Doha, Qatar.
"Today with three kilometres to go, there was an attack of three riders," Kam Po continued. "One of them was one of my team-mates. I was just waiting to see if he could sprint for the win but then they got caught. With two kilometres to go, there was a small climb. When we passed it and went downhill, I felt I had enough speed to have a go. So I just went and there were two other riders following so I knew I had to sprint. When we reached the last 800 metres, I just sprinted and didn't look back."
A lot of track racing explains how the Hong Kong star switched from climbing to sprinting. He might have two more bunch sprints to go in the Jelajah Malaysia.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Jean-François Quénet/Cyclingnews.com
- New sprinting sensation Anuar Manan attracts a lot of attention in Malaysia now.
- Wang Kam Po was focused on the start line already.
- Kuei Hsiang Peng from Taiwan is one of the most improved riders in Asia recently.
- Wang Kam Po is a winner in Malaysia again.
- Top three of the day: Mehdi Sohrabi, Wang Kam Po and Sergeï Kudentsov.
- King of the mountains Ghader Mizbani has tried to get the lead from his compatriot Mehdi Sohrabi.
Results
1 Kam Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 2.29.50 2 Kudentsov Sergey (Rus) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team 3 Mehdi Sohrabi (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 4 Anuar Manan (Mas) Team Le Tua 5 Mohd Harrif Saleh (Mas) Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia 6 Artemiy Timofeev (Rus) Polygon Sweet Nice 7 Muhammad Fauzan Ahmad Lutfi (Mas) Malaysian National Team 8 Mohd Saiful Anuar Aziz (Mas) Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia 9 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Japan National Team 10 Mohd Yusof Abd. Nasir (Mas) Benteng Muda Selangor 11 Sayuti Mohd Zahit (Mas) Putrajaya 12 Hossein Ashkari (IRI) Giant Asia Racing Team 13 Wang Yip Tang (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 14 Paul Griffin (Irl) Giant Asia Racing Team 15 Raziff Jaafar (Mas) Kuala Lumpur 16 Yan Dong Xing (Chn) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team 17 Ahmed Al Doseri (Brn) Bahrain National Team 18 Mohd Jasmin Ruslan (Mas) Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia 19 Firdaus Daud (Mas) Putrajaya 20 Fuad Daud (Mas) Putrajaya 21 Suhardi Hassan (Mas) Kuala Lumpur 22 Iwan Setiawan (Ina) Indonesian National Team 23 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jpn) Japan National Team 24 Najmee Wan Mohd (Mas) Kuala Lumpur 25 Hamid Shiri (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 26 Parno (Ina) Indonesian National Team 27 Amir Mustafa Rusli (Mas) Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia 28 Haidar Ahmad (Mas) Team Le Tua 29 Vyacheslav Dyadichkin (Kaz) Polygon Sweet Nice 30 Khalid Shambih (UAE) United Arab Emirates National Team 31 Jamal Aldoseri (Brn) Bahrain National Team 32 Yevgeniy Yakolev (Kaz) Polygon Sweet Nice 33 Jared T Bunde (USA) Champion System Sommerville Sports 34 Hossain Jahanbanian (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 35 Kin San Wu (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 36 Agung Ali Sahbana (Ina) Indonesian National Team 37 Endra Wijaya (Ina) Indonesian National Team 38 Pol Nabben (Ned) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team 39 Mohammad Partoui (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 40 Yoshiyuki Shimizu (Jpn) Japan National Team 41 Hari Fitrianto (Ina) Polygon Sweet Nice 42 Ting Pong Lam (HKg) Champion System Sommerville Sports 43 Mohd Hafiz Rozli (Mas) Pahang 44 Mohd Rauf Nur Misbah (Mas) Malaysian National Team 45 Kuan Hua Lai (Tpe) Giant Asia Racing Team 46 Thomas Just (Den) Team Farso Cycling 47 Weng Kin Thum (Mas) Malaysian National Team 48 Ching Man Chung (HKg) Champion System Sommerville Sports 49 Radius Ginting (Ina) Benteng Muda Selangor 50 Chun Hing Chan (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 51 Kurniawan Kurniawan (Ina) Pahang 52 Kuei Hsiang Peng (Tpe) Giant Asia Racing Team 53 Kai Tsun Lam (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 54 Stefan Rothe (Ger) Champion System Sommerville Sports 55 Herwin Jaya (Ina) Polygon Sweet Nice 56 Safwan Sawai (Mas) Malaysian National Team 57 Soren B Petersen (Den) Team Farso Cycling 58 Khairul Naim Azhar (Mas) Putrajaya 59 Umardi Rosdi (Mas) Team Le Tua 60 Fallanie Ali (Mas) Kuala Lumpur 61 Sayed Ahmed Alawi (Brn) Bahrain National Team 62 King Wai Cheung (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 63 Nathan Dahlberg (NZl) Team Farso Cycling 64 Iman Suparman (Ina) Benteng Muda Selangor 65 David Sommerville (USA) Champion System Sommerville Sports 66 Harnizam Basri (Mas) Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia 67 Ghader Mizbani (IRI) Giant Asia Racing Team 68 Bjorn Glasner (Ger) Team Farso Cycling 69 Thomas Bencivengo (USA) Champion System Sommerville Sports 70 Md Asril A Rahman (Mas) Pahang 71 Tong Yu (Chn) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team 72 Badr Bhanihammad (UAE) United Arab Emirates National Team 73 Chun Te Ching (Tpe) Giant Asia Racing Team 74 Taufiq Muhamad (Ina) Benteng Muda Selangor 75 Aang Zuanda (Ina) Indonesian National Team 76 Loh Sea Keong (Mas) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team 77 Ahad Kazemi Sarai (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 78 Mohamad Anuar Mohamed Zam (Mas) Terengganu 79 Wibowo Adi (Ina) Benteng Muda Selangor 0.12 80 Mumuh Muhsin (Ina) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 81 Mohd Zamri Salleh (Mas) Terengganu 0.17 82 Wim Spijkerboer (Ned) Team Farso Cycling 0.26 83 Yoshinori Iino (Jpn) Japan National Team 0.41 84 Ahmed Alhanadsa (UAE) United Arab Emirates National Team 85 Nariyuki Masuda (Jpn) Japan National Team 86 Rizuan Zainal (Mas) Team Le Tua 87 Sazlee Ismail (Mas) Kuala Lumpur 0.53 88 Azizul Azli Shaari (Mas) Terengganu 0.00 89 Satoshi Hirose (Jpn) Japan National Team 1.34 90 Mohamad Faris Abd Razak (Mas) Malaysian National Team 0.00 DNF Jesper Norgaard Lund (Den) Team Farso Cycling General classification after stage 5 1 Mehdi Sohrabi (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 14.10.35 2 Hossein Ashkari (IRI) Giant Asia Racing Team 0.27 3 Thomas Just (Den) Team Farso Cycling 3.57 4 Kam Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 4.05 5 Nathan Dahlberg (NZl) Team Farso Cycling 4.12 6 Hossain Jahanbanian (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 4.13 7 Chun Hing Chan (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 8 Paul Griffin (Irl) Giant Asia Racing Team 4.15 9 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jpn) Japan National Team 10 Vyacheslav Dyadichkin (Kaz) Polygon Sweet Nice 11 Pol Nabben (Ned) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team 4.21 12 Tong Yu (Chn) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team 4.37 13 Ghader Mizbani (IRI) Giant Asia Racing Team 4.41 14 Ahad Kazemi Sarai (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 6.26 15 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Japan National Team 7.58 16 Artemiy Timofeev (Rus) Polygon Sweet Nice 8.12 17 Mohammad Partoui (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 8.13 18 Yevgeniy Yakolev (Kaz) Polygon Sweet Nice 19 Suhardi Hassan (Mas) Kuala Lumpur 8.16 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 8.39 24 Safwan Sawai (Mas) Malaysian National Team 9.03 25 Stefan Rothe (Ger) Champion System Sommerville Sports 26 Hari Fitrianto (Ina) Polygon Sweet Nice 9.27 27 Mohd Rauf Nur Misbah (Mas) Malaysian National Team 10.31 28 Satoshi Hirose (Jpn) Japan National Team 10.37 29 Jared T Bunde (USA) Champion System Sommerville Sports 11.02 30 Wang Yip Tang (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 11.20 31 Kuei Hsiang Peng (Tpe) Giant Asia Racing Team 13.01 32 Hamid Shiri (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 13.04 33 Khalid Shambih (UAE) United Arab Emirates National Team 34 Herwin Jaya (Ina) Polygon Sweet Nice 35 Soren B Petersen (Den) Team Farso Cycling 13.15 36 Thomas Bencivengo (USA) Champion System Sommerville Sports 13.29 37 Parno (Ina) Indonesian National Team 15.04 38 Taufiq Muhamad (Ina) Benteng Muda Selangor 15.16 39 Wibowo Adi (Ina) Benteng Muda Selangor 15.18 40 Kai Tsun Lam (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 16.14 41 Anuar Manan (Mas) Team Le Tua 16.53 42 Kudentsov Sergey (Rus) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team 17.02 43 Badr Bhanihammad (UAE) United Arab Emirates National Team 17.07 44 Chun Te Ching (Tpe) Giant Asia Racing Team 17.12 45 Mohd Zamri Salleh (Mas) Terengganu 17.26 46 Ahmed Al Doseri (Brn) Bahrain National Team 17.32 47 Radius Ginting (Ina) Benteng Muda Selangor 17.40 48 Ahmed Alhanadsa (UAE) United Arab Emirates National Team 49 Ching Man Chung (HKg) Champion System Sommerville Sports 17.50 50 Rizuan Zainal (Mas) Team Le Tua 19.01 51 Sayuti Mohd Zahit (Mas) Putrajaya 19.14 52 Kin San Wu (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 53 Mohd Saiful Anuar Aziz (Mas) Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia 20.09 54 Mohd Yusof Abd. Nasir (Mas) Benteng Muda Selangor 21.05 55 Raziff Jaafar (Mas) Kuala Lumpur 21.13 56 Harnizam Basri (Mas) Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia 57 Mohamad Faris Abd Razak (Mas) Malaysian National Team 58 Mohd Harrif Saleh (Mas) Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia 21.22 59 Muhammad Fauzan Ahmad Lutfi (Mas) Malaysian National Team 21.32 60 Loh Sea Keong (Mas) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team 61 Azizul Azli Shaari (Mas) Terengganu 21.48 62 Mohd Jasmin Ruslan (Mas) Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia 22.25 63 Weng Kin Thum (Mas) Malaysian National Team 23.12 64 King Wai Cheung (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 23.15 65 Fallanie Ali (Mas) Kuala Lumpur 23.17 66 Umardi Rosdi (Mas) Team Le Tua 23.44 67 Nariyuki Masuda (Jpn) Japan National Team 23.56 68 Yoshiyuki Shimizu (Jpn) Japan National Team 23.58 69 Wim Spijkerboer (Ned) Team Farso Cycling 25.23 70 Khairul Naim Azhar (Mas) Putrajaya 26.35 71 Kurniawan Kurniawan (Ina) Pahang 29.26 72 Mumuh Muhsin (Ina) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 30.12 73 Iman Suparman (Ina) Benteng Muda Selangor 30.14 74 Firdaus Daud (Mas) Putrajaya 33.59 75 Endra Wijaya (Ina) Indonesian National Team 34.37 76 Sayed Ahmed Alawi (Brn) Bahrain National Team 77 Md Asril A Rahman (Mas) Pahang 35.40 78 Agung Ali Sahbana (Ina) Indonesian National Team 36.39 79 Mohd Hafiz Rozli (Mas) Pahang 39.16 80 Yoshinori Iino (Jpn) Japan National Team 39.59 81 Sazlee Ismail (Mas) Kuala Lumpur 41.52 82 Jamal Aldoseri (Brn) Bahrain National Team 42.28 83 Haidar Ahmad (Mas) Team Le Tua 84 Ting Pong Lam (HKg) Champion System Sommerville Sports 43.01 85 Najmee Wan Mohd (Mas) Kuala Lumpur 43.15 86 Mohamad Anuar Mohamed Zam (Mas) Terengganu 44.27 87 David Sommerville (USA) Champion System Sommerville Sports 44.30 88 Aang Zuanda (Ina) Indonesian National Team 44.40 89 Fuad Daud (Mas) Putrajaya 46.22 90 Iwan Setiawan (Ina) Indonesian National Team 47.53
