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Jelajah Malaysia - 2.2
Malaysia, January 6-12, 2007
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Stage
Stage 7 - January 12: Putrajaya (Criterium), 57.5 km
Lai wins in front of court house; Sohrabi keeps the overall
By Jean-François Quénet in Putrajaya
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It looks like torrential rain is a common affair for the final criterium of a Malaysian stage race. Last year's Kuala Lumpur's conclusive event of Le Tour de Langkawi had to be cancelled because the streets of Malaysian capital were more like a lake, and it was impossible to ride a bike. It wasn't that bad in Putrajaya, the home of Malaysian government, but still, the rain deterred the bunch from chasing the six men who had broken clear after the half way point.
Malaysia's Loh Sea Keong from Discovery Channel-Marco Polo was active in the race, but the stage ended with a tight sprint between Giant Asia's Kuan Hua Lai from Taiwan and Japan's Satoshi Hirose. "I was very lucky today," said a smiling Lai following Giant Asia's excellent campaign in Malaysia. The Taiwanese outfit has claimed two stage wins, the KOM, and the team classification. "Had the course been more mountainous, we could have taken the leader's jersey as well," said Irishman Paul Griffin.
In the initial part of the stage, Team LeTua made an effort to secure Anuar Manan's green jersey. "I'm very honored to have been backed by a team who has been capable of keeping this jersey from day one until the end," Malaysia's new sprinting sensation commented. The bunch stopped racing seriously with six laps (15km) to go, after riders asked officials to put an end to the stage and their request wasn't granted. Teams like Polygon Sweet Nice and race leader Mehdi Sohrabi's Tabriz Petrochemical had to pace hard at the end because the bunch was under the threat of being lapped by the breakaway riders. Sohrabi's lead wasn't in real danger as highest ranked escapee Lai was 8 minutes and 16 seconds down on the GC.
"It was a good win for starting the season, especially because I came here with form that was not too good," Sohrabi stated. In Iran, the temperature was -20°C before the riders headed to Malaysia, but their training didn't seem to have been affected so much. Sohrabi's next duty will be the Tour of Qatar with Iran national team. "I will not be coming back to Malaysia for Le Tour de Langkawi this year, he said. As for Jelajah Malaysia, the race was very good, I was impressed by the organization and I would like to come back and win it again."
The seven-day event, the revival of Jelajah Malaysia, previously known as Tour de Malaysia, or Tour of Malaysia,was a success with impressive rides leading the racers to finish almost every day ahead of fastest schedule. The Malaysian cycling community has proven itself mature in that it organizes several international bike races, not only Le Tour de Langkawi, for which Jelajah Malaysia looks to be more than just a warm up.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Jean-François Quénet/Cyclingnews.com
- A happy Kuan Hua Lai after his win.
- Tourism Minister Datuk Sri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor welcomed Kuan Hua Lai on stage.
- Satoshi Hirose from Japan and Kuan Hua Lai and Badr Bhanihammad from the United Arab Emirates, this is the top 3 for the final criterium in Putrajaya.
- Giant Asia won the team competition.
- The Malaysian national team was the best of the Malaysian teams in 9th.
- Suhardi Hassan, who finished 17th, was the best Malaysian rider.
- Malaysia’s best reason to be satisfied was Anuar Manan winning the green jersey and two stages as well.
- Final winners Ghader Mizbani, Mehdi Sohrabi, Anuar Manan, and Suhardi Hassan.
Results
1 Kuan Hua Lai (Tpe) Giant Asia Racing Team 2 Satoshi Hirose (Jpn) Japan National Team 3 Badr Bhanihammad (UAE) United Arab Emirates National Team GC 1 Mehdi Sohrabi (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 18.36.09 2 Hossein Ashkari (IRI) Giant Asia Racing Team 0.28 3 Thomas Just (Den) Team Farso Cycling 3.58 4 Kam Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 4.02 5 Nathan Dahlberg (NZl) Team Farso Cycling 4.13 6 Hossain Jahanbanian (IRI) Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team 4.14 7 Chun Hing Chan (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling 8 Paul Griffin (Irl) Giant Asia Racing Team 9 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jpn) Japan National Team 4.16 10 Vyacheslav Dyadichkin (Kaz) Polygon Sweet Nice Sprint Classification 1 Anuar Manan (Mas) Team Le Tua Full Results Coming!
