NISHITANI BLASTS TO SUPERB VICTORY, ERLER SAFEGUARDS HIS YELLOW JERSEY
04/03/2010

PARIT SULONG - Grabbing the third Japanese victory ever in the Tour de Langkawi – and the sixth by an Asian rider - Taiji Nishitani took a superb mass bunch sprint win today in Parit Sulong.

The 29 year old national road race champion scorched it on the slightly-downhill finish, holding off the double stage-victor Michael Matthews (Jayco-Skins), his own team-mate Kazuhiro Mori, plus the rest of the peloton.

It was the biggest win of his career, and something which gave him a great deal of satisfaction.

“I am so happy. My team-mates worked so hard for me,” he enthused. “I am really happy to take at least one win in the Tour de Langkawi as this is a very, very important race for me and my team. I feel satisfied and delighted about this win.”

Overnight race leader Tobias Erler retained his yellow jersey yet again, playing things well tactically and getting good assistance from his Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling team in controlling breakaway attempts.

They kept tabs on things until Swiss competitor Silvere Ackermann (Vorarlberg-Corratec) and Malaysian rider Ali Fallanie (Malaysia National Team) attacked thirty kilometres after the start in Mersing.

Neither were a big threat to his race lead, and they were given free rein to build a maximum advantage of four and a half minutes. Fallanie picked up two bonus sprints, at Kluang and Yong Peng, before Ackerman surged ahead alone after 140 of the day’s 163.5 kilometres had been covered.

The latter then took top points on the day’s sole KOM climb at Kg Sri Jasa and tried to hold on for the stage win, but was finally caught five kilometres from the line.

Erler rolled in thirteenth on the stage, staying five seconds clear of David Pell (Drapac Porsche) in the general classification. Stage two winner Jay Thomson (South Africa) remains third, a further two seconds back.

“I have to say thanks to my team for their work in the first thirty kilometres, until the break rode away. I had really bad legs from yesterday,” the German rider Erler said. “Yesterday I did a lot of work for myself and today they had to help me as my legs were really not good.

“When the break rode away, ISD and my team, Andrey Mizurov and myself, tried to ensure that the break didn’t go above five minutes so that that sprinting teams would start to chase in the end. In the end, this day was not as hard as yesterday for me – yesterday I made it too hard for myself.”

Many of the general classification contenders are content to bide their time until Saturday’s crucial stage to Genting Highlands. That also appears to be the case for those in the running for the King of the Mountains jersey; Peter McDonald added a point to his total today and remains on top.

The same cannot be said of those fighting for the green jersey of points leader, as there was a real battle on the road today.

The first of three intermediate sprints took place in Jemaluang, just 14.6 kilometres after the start, and there Matthews overtook the total of points leader Anuar Manan (Geumsan Ginseng Asia) when he won the sprint. Manan was not placed in the first four and needed to fight back in the subsequent gallops.

The long-distance breakaway by Fallanie and Ackermann mopped up some of the available points, but in finishing third and fourth in the next two intermediate primes, he ensured that he was level with Matthews going into the crucial finishing sprint.

There, it was the Australian who came out best. “I was actually 20th wheel back coming into the sprint…I wasn’t going to go for it at the end as I didn’t feel too good. Also, coming into it, it was just way too dodgy - there were people going everywhere. It wasn’t really worth crashing for so I was just going to sit up.

“I was in about 20th wheel and then I saw a free run to the front. So I hit it from 20th wheel and got up to second – I was happy with that.”

Manan was just sixth in the finishing gallop and ended the day three points back. He said afterwards that he felt that wearing the green jersey meant he was a watched man.

“Today the race was very hard because I was fighting with Matthews to get the sprint points. The first sprint was unlucky for me as a lot of riders seemed to be fighting with me as I wear the green jersey. Many riders focussed only on me, and were not looking for Matthews,” he explained.

“I didn’t get the points there. I tried to get the points in the second one, but two riders were in the breakaway and so there were not too many points.

“In the last intermediate sprint, I only got one point. I was very tired after that as I had spent too much fighting Matthews. I tried to save energy to try to get the best place in the finish line, but was not able to get to the front as many riders were very close to me. I will try tomorrow.”

He has the consolation of holding on to the blue jersey of best Asian rider, but is certain to fight back in the days ahead. While he is certain not to figure on the gruelling mountain climb to Genting Highlands, he should be capable of winning tomorrow and Sunday if they come down to bunch sprints.

After today, the same can be said for Nishitani. It took him a couple of days to find his legs, but he’s up to speed now. “My condition is not yet the best. Until yesterday, it was really difficult to be up there in the finishing sprint. After the start today, my legs felt a little bit heavy and things were a little difficult. But my team did very, very good work and because of their assistance, I could win today.”

Asian cycling also triumphed, as the victory is proof that the riders have moved to a new level. Nishitani’s blistering final sprint saw him beat some very good competitors from Europe, Manan’s performances all week have highlighted his ability and determination, and the general aggressive attitude from the riders from Malaysia and elsewhere in Asia have been very encouraging.

More of the same can be expected on tomorrow’s 111.5 kilometre stage from Muar to Port Dickson, which is the final flat stage before Saturday’s crucial race to Genting.

The 15th edition of the LTdL this year is organized by the Ministry of Youth and Sports with assistance from the Malaysian National Cycling Federation and has been granted hors category status by the International Cycling Union (UCI). The race comprises seven stages which are Kota Bharu - Kuala Berang which covers 174.5km, followed by Kuala Terengganu - Chukai (182.3km); Pekan - Mersing (145.6km); Mersing-Parit Sulong (163.5km); Muar - Port Dickson (111.5km) Putrajaya - Genting Highlands (102.8km) dan Kuala Kubu Baru - Dataran Merdeka (133.7km), with a total distance of 1013.9km.

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