Tour of Korea - 2.5

Korea, May 11-16, 2003

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Stage 4 - May 14: Kang Leung - Yang Yang, 147km

An easier day by the DMZ

By Mikkeli Godfree

China-Taipei & Giant Asia in control
Photo: © Mikkeli Godfree

As this stage followed the most feared of the tour, it was seen as a bit of a rest-day by many. The race would track its way along the coast road from Kang Leung up to within 20km of the DMZ, then back to Yang Yang along flat roads. It was a curious setting, the riders flying along the coast road, only 50km of three metre-high razor-wire and hundreds of machine-gun toting army personnel separating them from the beach. There certainly wouldn't be any North Korean spectators lining the course today, on a day when the riders couldn't help but be aware of a the tense situation they were riding through.

Back to the race… Curiously, those who had laboured their way through the third stage would face another challenge. This was due to the race organisers calling on a special rule they had made which gave them the power to reinstate riders who had not even completed two thirds of the previous day's stage. Indeed, there would be some fresh sprinters legs in the bunch to make the race interesting.

However, these riders never got a chance to see the front as, from the gun, the pace was fast and the race spread all over the road. As the race hit the coast (and a solid North-Easterly side-head wind) Marco Polo rider Cory Lange somehow managed to ride away from a bunch that was strung out in the gutter. He was joined for several minutes by another rider but he couldn't keep the pace and Lange continued alone.

Milostic & Chadwick
Photo: © Photo: © Mikkeli Godfree

As the race settled down, Lange continued to ride strongly, gaining a minute lead over the main bunch before a group of six riders bridged across. When they came together, this group worked hard to gain a lead of over four minutes to the main bunch by the mid-way point in the race. By this point, the break found that two of its members were dead-wood as Peter Milostic (Team MGZT) and Mark Roland (Giant Asia) decided it was no longer in their interests to gain more time. Similarly, in the main group, Giant Asia had decided to control the race as they put themselves and two other mercenaries on the front.

The race turned back on itself and headed back to Yang Yang and the side-tail wind saw the last 30km fly by very quickly. As the break held over 3:30 into the last 20km its success was looking likely. However, with the Stage 3 criterium winner in tow, the win was never guaranteed to be between Milostic and Roland. As the break hit the headed into the last 20km, the Stage 2 winner, Cho, attacked with Roland covering.

Can we fix it?
Photo: © Photo: © Mikkeli Godfree

Cho, rumoured to have been 4th in the Olympic Points Score, looked super-strong as he and Roland worked to gain over a minute over the chasers. With 2km to go, Roland played his card and attacked the feared sprinter. However, Cho didn't give Roland an inch and it would come down to a sprint. As the two lined up, Roland hit out with 300m to go in an attempt to surprise Cho. The Aussie pulled his foot though, and Cho sailed down the packed main street of Yang Yang to his second win in three days. Behind, Lange finished a strong 3rd after initiating the winning break.

With a 30km climb in the first 30km of Stage 5, the race is still wide open with two stages to go.

Photography

Images by Mikkeli Godfree

Marco Polo riders Cory Lange and Kam Po Wong chat
Simon Bishop tweaks a Giant
Luke Stockwell tells Giant Asia team mate Redenbach, where to go
Yuichi Ono, super strong masseur and mechanic gives support
Marco Polo riders chill before the start
Korean Ganjin riders are all smiles
Glen Chadwick is presented as the race leader
Wong heads out of Kang Leung
Kazakh riders ham it up for the camera
The other side of the fence
Peter Milostic (Team MGZT) follows eventual second place Mark Roland (Giant Asia)
Two China-Taipei riders help Giant Asia control the race
Winner Cho with two proud parents
Giant Asia riders de-brief
Chadwick offers some praise to a mercenary
Local Yang Yang riders show their strength
Joel Pearson (MGZT) unable to wait to get back to the hotel to sample some local fare, chopsticks and all.

Results

1 Ho Sung Cho (Kor) Seoul City              3.31.04
2 Mark Roland (Aus) Giant Asia                 0.04
3 Cory Lange (Can) Marco Polo                  1.15
4 Peter Milostic (Aus) Team MGZT               1.27
5 Sergey Lavrenenko (Kaz) Kazakhstan
6 Kahkraman Mominov (Uzb) Uzbekistan           1.37
7 Byung Chul Kim (Kor) Kowaco
8 Go Seob Sim (Kor) Kang Jin Gun Chung         3.55
9 Chul Min Kim (Kor) Uijeongbu City
10 Brett Aitken (Aus) Team MGZT
11 Masahiko Mifune (HKg) Marco Polo
12 Hyon Gu Lee (Kor) Kyung Ryoon
13 Artem Shlingov (Uzb) Uzbekistan
14 Sea Hwan Soh (Kor) Gapyeong Gun Chung
15 Sung Chan Choi (Kor) Kowaco
 
General Classification after Stage 4
 
1 Glen Chadwick (Aus) Giant Asia           14.08.30
2 Michael Carter (USA) Marco Polo              1.14
3 Brett Aitken (Aus) Team MGZT                 2.58
4 Chris Carr (Aus) Giant Asia                  4.07
5 Kam Po Wong (HKg) Marco Polo                 4.07
6 Sergei Lavrenenko (Kaz) Kazakhstan           4.27
7 Sergei Tretyakov (Kaz) Kazakhstan            4.50
8 Kairat Baigudinov  (Kaz) Orbea Exte-Ondo     4.54
9 Ghader Mizibani (Irn) Giant Asia             5.17
10 Paul Redenbach (Aus) Giant Asia             6.09
11 Seoung Pek Bak (Kor) Seoul City             6.20
12 Bakhtiyar Mamrov (Kaz) Orbea Exte-Ondo      6.34
13 Domenic Gatto (Aus) Team MGZT               6.54
14 Vadim Kravchenko (Kaz) Kazakhstan           6.54
15 Vladimir Bushanskiy (Kaz) Kazakhstan        6.55