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9th Telekom Malaysia Le Tour de Langkawi - 2.2
Malaysia, February 6-15, 2004
Rider Diaries
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Mountain Man: The Roland Green diary
Nationality: Canadian
Team: Canada
Dual world MTB champion Roland Green proved his worth on the roads of Malaysia in 2003, winning the King of the Mountains prize and finishing fourth overall. This year, Roland wants to win. Stay tuned to see whether the mountain man can do it.
Lacking the high end, but the race ain't over
Stage 3 start, Tapah, February 8, 2003
Hi Cyclingnews guys,
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Well, I guess yesterday played out as I expected. The first climb was pretty much a climb of attrition, and I knew I could be up there in the end, but when it came down to it, I just hadn't raced enough. It my first race of the year, and I just didn't have the high end that I needed.
It's all about that high end, y'know. I made it across to the first attack, but the second attack, had I gone to it, I would have blown up, so I had to come back.
Actually, the time lost wasn't that bad - I just got to ride smart between now and the time trial, and hopefully on the time trial (Stage 5) and Genting (Stage 9), I can take a little time back. Right now, I'm just a little too fat and a little too out of shape to be climbing that good. It's [the fat] everywhere!
Put it this way: I'll come out of this race a lot fitter than I went into it. I'm still feeling positive. Overall, we have a plan for GC for myself, but it just means playing it smart and then seeing what happens at Genting on Stage 9. That means conserving energy and riding those two stages as smart as possible.
We're looking to come out of this race with as many UCI points as possible, so we've all got to keep that in mind too. It's disappointing when you know you don't have a real chance to win, but a good solid top ten on GC is worth a lot to us as a country.
I recovered last night no problem. I mean, when you can't go that hard, you can't really do that much damage to yourself! Today, I think there's going to be a lot of motivated teams to get away from the Colombians on the flats. Unless they have help, I don't think they can control it on the flat. And then it will be a matter of whether that group can stay away from the Colombians up the climb.
You never know. The race isn't over. Over the top of today's climb, there's a technical, twisty descent, and that can make or break the race right there. I mean, if you blow a corner, or if you're a little tentative on the descent, you're gonna be losing time, especially if you lose contact with the front group. I feel pretty confident about the descent, but I'd like to do it in a small group, not in the peloton.
As it flattens out after the descent, there's like a false flat downhill run towards the finish, and if you're not with that front group, you stand to lose a lot of time. I think from the base of that climb to the finish line, it's going to be ridden full-out.
See you tomorrow,
rg
Editor's note: Roland finished in 50th place today, 1'28 behind winner Brett Lancaster.
