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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.
Staying out of trouble
Stage 2 start, Ipoh, February 7, 2003
I was a little nervous going into yesterday's stage, because I haven't been riding in the peloton since... wow, April last year at the Tour of Georgia.
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First stages of tours are always really nervous, so I was just trying to stay out of trouble, y'know, but I find after a couple of stages, it all came back to me. I was trying to lay low and conserve energy for today, because I think today's going to be hard. Just that long drag for almost 40k and that little steep pitch at the end.
Our team wasn't really worried about yesterday's breakway. There's so many teams willing to chase down breakaways because there's so many good sprinters. Unless the break was getting up to say, eight to ten guys, with one or two strong teams, then I don't think there was anything to worry about.
When that mix-up happened in the end, that was fine by me. Our best sprinter is Charles [Dionne], and he's pretty good at getting himself on a good wheel for the sprint, so there's not much we need to do for him here.
The talk last night's being all about today and what we have to do. So first thing is for us to get to the start of the climb, and for me to get me to the front of the the peloton in a good position. I would expect it to gradually thin out, probably not till after a good five or six k, depending on who's willing to set the tempo.
The first part of the climb today is fairly moderate, so I'll stay seated, but when I climb, I really split my time between sitting and getting out of the saddle. I think I comes from mountain biking. Out of the saddle uses more energy, but it definitely gets you more power.
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I think the climbers are going to be feeling each other out the first few k's and see who's willing to go for it. If there's a breakaway, it will be to their advantage if they're cooperating and sharing the work between six or seven guys - especially if there's confusion back in the pack about who's sharing the lead. I'm definitely going to be less aggressive then last year. But when you're down on time like I was last year, you have to be more aggressive.
Every time I race, I tape up my wrists, because it helps with the strain in the wrist, and if you were ever to crash, it could help to save you a bit. I've got really big hands, and the hoods on my bike are just way too small. Around the sides of my bars, just above the hoods, is where all the pressure is, so I double-wrap - sometimes triple - the tape around that area.
I wish I could design my own brake hoods. That'd be great.
Let's see what happens today,
rg
Editor's note: Roland finished in 18th place today, 2'16 behind winner Marlon Perez.
