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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.
All coming together
Pontian, Stage 7 start, February 12, 2004
Yesterday, we were pretty happy with the way things turned out. The break started out with 15 guys and then it was down to 11 guys, but I don't think those 11 guys were totally committed which is too bad, because Colombia Selle-Italia were in trouble for a while there...
They were down to only three guys on the front (Huberlino Mesa crashed with around 14 others at km 20, and Russell Van Hout collided with an Irish rider after the Stage 5 time trial - Ed] who were able to chase. That was a good situation... I mean, the race was happening, and there was a chance the GC may change.
There was a couple of times we were in the gutter when the Chocolade Jacques guys went to the front... that Jans Koerts - boy the guy can drive it on the flat, no doubt about that! Fortunately he flatted, but before he flatted, there was a split in the field and it was chaos. Had that crosswind continued for a while longer, there would have been a split in the field for sure.
Then it was surprising: it seemed like a really short gap, but it almost was like Colombia and Relax had received instructions not to bridge it. Maybe the director of Selle-Italia was thinking, "Hey, if this is eleven guys and this is all that we're dealing with, then this is the lesser of two evils - if it comes back together, it could be really nasty." We were really hoping that everyone in that break was just going to really drive it, but once Relax [Bodysol] showed at the head of the peloton, you knew there wasn't going to be too much of a gap.
Coming into the finish, we were all at the front, and we were all feeling good. But I'm pretty inexperienced at lead-outs; I mean, I really don't have any experience at all. We tried to give Charles [Dionne] the best lead-out we could, but it's just a matter of timing in the end. When I saw it on tape, he went a little too early, but I died early because I had a flat tyre with a k to go, and then with 500 to go, I was bouncing on the rim.
So in the end, it worked out well for Colombia Selle-Italia, but today, we're riding alongside the ocean, and I think it's much more likely to be a steadier crosswind today. Selle-Italia, however, is a very experienced team, and they're probably going to have a little more help in case things get out of control. But if a break goes with over 10 guys and they're committed in the wind, they're gone. We want to be in a breakaway again today and go for a stage.
I haven't done a stage race for almost 12 months, but I've always had a good time with the recovery, so it's just a matter of being really vigilant today and taking it easy tomorrow. I'm really happy with the team too. On team GC, we're sitting fourth and I think a top three on team GC is possible; Peter Wedge is riding really well, and so is Cory Lange - we just need three solid guys for Genting, and we'll be there.
See you guys,
rg
Editor's note: Roland finished in 72nd place today, four seconds behind stage winner Luciano Pagliarini. He is currently placed 15th on the overall classification, 2'49 behind overall leader Marlon Perez.
