Tour of South China Sea - 2.2

Hong Kong, December 25-30, 2006

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Stage 1 - December 25: Hong Kong Stage: Shatin Circuit, 80.5 km

The racing got underway early on Christmas morning, on a short but wide open rectangular shaped circuit around the suburbs of Shatin, Hong Kong. Local races and trick cycling displays led into the action, which got underway at a preditable fast pace.

With the Pocari Sweat boys working hard to shake things up, the pace remained high throughout the whole race, with several very short lived breaks making only to only minor effect, until the super strong Dynamo Moscow team decided to apply the pressure, sending two of their riders off the front for several laps, but never out of the grasp of the Hong Kong team, who were aided heavily by the Danish Glud & Mastrand riders.

As the last few laps crept closer yet more breaks went clear, always well marked by the Pocari team and Li Fuyu, the young Marco Polo rider from China, who is riding his last race with the team before leaving to joining the illustrious Discovery Channel team, but it was all in vain.

As the bell sounded, the field was all-together, and that was how it stayed to the line. As the bunch sprinted for the line Wong Kam Po looked to have yet another victory in the can, until the young Russian Andrey Klyuev came by to take the sprint by a clear wheel from the local rider; "It all went according to plan, I sat and waited. The first five days should all be sprints, but let's see how the circuits are and how the riders tire. If it's like this, it will suit our team," commented the Russian ex world champion. Meanwhile further back, last year's winner Wu hit the deck, suffering some nasty road rash in with the deal.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Steve Thomas

Images by Joey Wu

Stage One gets underway
The Australian U23s waiting for the start
The Trek bikes of Marco Polo Team
The People's Liberation Army and Chinese national teams enjoying the morning sun.
The start of first stage of the 11th Tour of South China Sea race.
The Omnibike Dynamo Moscow and the Australian U23 teams setting an early pace
The Australians attacked aggressively at the beginning.
But the Aussies were always marked by the Omnibike Dynamo Moscow and Pocari Sweat Hong Kong teams.
A Japanese rider tried to counterattack when the breakaway got reeled back in.
Riders started looking around when the pace slow down.
An attack by an Omnibike Dynamo Moscow rider.
Seems the peloton is not interested in chasing this time.
When a break got away halfway through the race...
The local Pocari Sweat Hong Kong team rider (Wang Yip Tang no.6) was there to follow.
Last year's winner Kin San Wu no.1 (HKg) was happy watching from the peloton.
About thirteen laps left to go. The Russians started chasing the motorcycle for fun!
The Omnibike Dynamo Moscow started to hammer away with a small group.
Leded by Alexander Khatuntsev and Konstantin Ponomarev.
The Pocari Sweat Hong Kong team picked up the pace.
And watched by the The Omnibike Dynamo Moscow team.
Sergey Kolesnikov and teammate Alexander Khatuntsev powered away from the break.
The Pocari Sweat Hong Kong team realized they missed the break and started to chase.
With the help from the H.K. & Shanghai Sports Institute rider: Gang Xu (Chn).
The breakaway was reeled back after few laps up front.
Even the local favorite Kam Po Wong (2nd L) started showing up at the front.
Two gold medalists from the recent Asian Games: Kam Po Wong (no.2) and King Wai Cheung (no.3) kept their eyes for any late attacks.
With seven laps to go, Jacob Nielsen (Den) started attacking for one last time.
The gold medalist (road race) in the recent Asian Games, Kam Po Wong kept his cool and watched the break develop.
Twelve riders got away with four laps to go. Wong (HKg) tested the legs of his competitors.
The break was reeled back with two laps to go. Last year's winner Kin San Wu (no.1) looked relaxed in the peloton waiting for a sprint finish.
And the winner is...
The gold medalist (point race) in the Asian Games, King Wai Cheung hit the deck before the finish line.
Wait, don't cut my jersey. This is the only one I have!
Andrey Klyuev (Rus) celebrated his stage win and the yellow jersey.
Chi Yin Leung (HKg) of the Marco Polo cycling team, 3rd place. Reona Sumi (Jpn) Japan National team, points leader. Andrey Klyuev (Rus) Omnibike Dynamo Moscow, race leader and stage winner. Kam Po Wong (HKg) Pocari Sweat Hong Kong, Greater China leader and 2nd place.

Results


Individual (Stage & GC)

1 Andrey Klyuev (Rus) Omnibike Dynamo Moscow                  1.50.42
2 Kam Po Wong (HKg) Pocari Sweat Hong Kong                           
3 Chi Yin Leung (HKg) Marco Polo Cycling Team                        
4 Alexey Shmidt (Rus) Omnibike Dynamo Moscow                         
5 Fuyu Li (Chn) Marco Polo Cycling Team                              
6 Reona Sumi (Jpn) Japan National Team                               
7 Masahiko Mifune (Jpn) CMS Cycling TV                               
8 Morten Christiansen (Den) Glud and Mastrand Horsens                
9 David John Tonk (GBr) CMS Cycling TV                               
10 Sergey Kudentsov (Rus) Marco Polo Cycling Team                    
11 Nederlof Lex (Ned) CMS Cycling TV                                 
12 Po Hung Wu (Tpe) CKT Team                                         
13 Kim Marius K. Nielsen (Den) Glud and Mastrand Horsens             
14 Bo Liu (Chn) People's Liberation Army                             
15 Kai Tsun Lam (HKg) Pocari Sweat Hong Kong                         
16 Keng Hsien Chen (Tpe) CKT Team                                    
17 Kin San Wu (HKg) Pocari Sweat Hong Kong                           
18 Chun Hing Chan (HKg) Pocari Sweat Hong Kong                       
19 Rongxi Zou (Chn) China                                            
20 Valery Valynin (Rus) Omnibike Dynamo Moscow                       
21 Long Jin (Chn) China                                              
22 Wang Yip Tang (HKg) Pocari Sweat Hong Kong                        
23 Rune Udby (Den) Glud and Mastrand Horsens                         
24 Luke Cridland (Aus) Australian Under 23                           
25 Michael Berling (Den) Glud and Mastrand Horsens                   
26 Alexander Khatuntsev (Rus) Omnibike Dynamo Moscow                 
27 Lei Sun (Chn) Hong Kong and Shanghai Sports Institute             
28 Jamsran Ulzii-Orshkih (Mgl) Marco Polo Cycling Team               
29 Prajak Mahawong  (Tha) Siam Barra Cycling                         
30 Christopher J. Jory (Aus) Australian Under 23                     
31 Thanawat Samana  (Tha) Siam Barra Cycling                         
32 Haijun Ma (Chn) China                                             
33 Yinhao Cui (Chn) Hong Kong and Shanghai Sports Institute          
34 Yue Tu (Chn) People's Liberation Army                             
35 Konstantin Ponomarev (Rus) Omnibike Dynamo Moscow                 
36 Xu Fang (Chn) China                                               
37 Fumiya Azuhata (Jpn) Japan National Team                          
38 Jacob J. Nielsen (Den) Glud and Mastrand Horsens                  
39 Tong Yu (Chn) Macau Beijing Selection                             
40 Yung Hua Cheng (Tpe) CKT Team                                     
41 Shuaijun Chang (Chn) Macau Beijing Selection                      
42 Shijie Yu (Chn) People's Liberation Army                          
43 Mitchell C. Chapman (Aus) Australian Under 23                     
44 Sea Keong Loh (Mas) Marco Polo Cycling Team                       
45 Mitchell P. Pearson (Aus) Australian Under 23                     
46 Takaaki Ota (Jpn) Japan National Team                             
47 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Japan National Team                           
48 Gangzhao Guo (Chn) Cyclist Club Racing Force                      
49 Wenlong Zhang (Chn) People's Liberation Army                      
50 Li Zhang (Chn) Guangdong                                          
51 Stefan Steinweg (Ger) VC Zurich Hirslanden                        
52 Siu Wai Ko (HKg) Hong Kong and Shanghai Sports Institute          
53 Gang Xu (Chn) Hong Kong and Shanghai Sports Institute             
54 Ching Man Chung (HKg) Biciracing                                  
55 Jared Bunde (USA) Champion System Somerville Sports               
56 Norihide Murayama. (Jpn) Japan National Team                      
57 Liang Zhang (Chn) China                                           
58 Christian Rocha (Swi) VC Zurich Hirslanden                        
59 Chak Shing Cheng (HKg) Hong Kong and Shanghai Sports Institute    
60 Peng Liu (Chn) People's Liberation Army                           
61 Song Gao (Chn) Liaoning Team                                      
62 Pengda Jiao (Chn) China                                           
63 Pornthep Pinkeaw  (Tha) Siam Barra Cycling                        
64 Laurent Arn (Swi) VC Zurich Hirslanden                            
65 Cheng Guang Yu (Chn) Liaoning Team                                
66 Yandong Xing (Chn) Marco Polo Cycling Team                        
67 Akyiyama Hisanori (Jpn) Cyclist Club Racing Force                 
68 Fabian Krienbühl (Swi) VC Zurich Hirslanden                       
69 Zhao Yu Zeng (Chn) Liaoning Team                                  
70 Brendan Brooks (Aus) Australian Under 23                          
71 Sergey Kolesnikov (Rus) Omnibike Dynamo Moscow                    
72 Shi Qiang Sun (Chn) Liaoning Team                                 
73 Sommerville David (USA) Champion System Somerville Sports         
74 Wai Man Chau (HKg) Champion System Somerville Sports              
75 Komsan Karnbanchee  (Tha) Siam Barra Cycling                      
76 Shuhai Song (Chn) Guangdong                                       
77 David Jansen (Swi) VC Zurich Hirslanden                           
78 Yu Hui Wei (Chn) Liaoning Team                                    
79 Hsin Hsien Lee (Tpe) CKT Team                                 0.28
80 King Wai Cheung (HKg) Pocari Sweat Hong Kong                      
81 Stefan Rothe (Ger) Champion System Somerville Sports          0.33
82 Hsin Hua Huang (Tpe) CKT Team                                 0.38
83 Alexander A. Mattmann (Swi) VC Zurich Hirslanden                  
84 Heng Wa Choi (Mac) Macau Beijing Selection                        
85 Takumi Shirakawa (Jpn) Japan National Team                        
86 Chung Yin Kwan (Mac) Macau Beijing Selection                      
87 Christopher Y. Young (Aus) Australian Under 23                    
88 Kau Wai Yu (HKg) CMS Cycling TV                                   
89 Thomas Bencivengo (USA) Champion System Somerville Sports         
90 Shing Lam Ip (HKg) Biciracing                                 6.42
90 Jing Wei Jiang (Chn) Liaoning Team                                
90 Zeyong Yuan (Chn) People's Liberation Army                        
90 Yongsheng Yan (Chn) Hong Kong and Shanghai Sports Institute       
90 Kuo Lung Liao (Tpe) CKT Team                                      
90 Ching Yin Lemuel Lau (HKg) Champion System Somerville Sports      
90 Usui Takamasa (Jpn) CMS Cycling TV                                
90 Chung Yin Cheng (HKg) Cyclist Club Racing Force                   
90 Que Zhong (Chn) Guangdong                                         
90 Ting Pong Lam (HKg) Biciracing                                    
90 Man Yiu Cheung (HKg) Biciracing                                   
90 Korakogh  Rittiman  (Tha) Siam Barra Cycling                      
102 Qiang Zhang (Chn) Macau Beijing Selection                    9.57
102 King Man Tsui (HKg) Cyclist Club Racing Force                    
102 Jiajie Jang (Chn) Guangdong                                      
102 Xiang Dong (Chn) Guangdong                                       
102 Lok Kei So (HKg) Biciracing                                      
107 Huikuo Zhu (Chn) Macau Beijing Selection                    13.13
107 Kam Fai Lau (HKg) CMS Cycling TV                                 
107 Kin Tik So (HKg) Cyclist Club Racing Force                       
107 Mun Po Choi (HKg) Cyclist Club Racing Force                      
107 Man Chung  Ip (HKg) Biciracing                         

Team (Stage & GC)

1 Marco Polo Cycling Team             5.32.06
2 Omnibike - Dynamo Moscow                   
3 CMS-Cycling.TV                             
4 Pocari Sweat Hong Kong                     
5 Glud & Mastrand Horsens                    
6 CKT Team                                   
7 China                                      
8 Japan National Team                        
9 Peoples' Liberation Army                   
10 Australian U23                            
11 Hong Kong & Shanghai Sports Institute     
12 Siam Bara Cycling                         
13 Macau-Beijing Selection                   
14 VC Zurich - Hirslanden                    
15 Liaoning Team                             
16 Champion System Sommerville Sports        
17 Cyclist Club Racing Force             6.42
18 Guangdong                                 
19 Bici Racing                          13.23