Sprick springs surprise
NST, 10/2/2008
IT was all turned upside down as
Matthieu Sprick became only the third French rider in the history
of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) to win a stage when he outfoxed
a 19-man breakaway to take Stage One of the 13th edition from
Alor Star to Kepala Batas yesterday.
The 19-man break that went after 25 kilometres
into the 182.6km stage finished more than 21 minutes ahead of
lone chaser Rauf Nor Misbah of Malaysia while the main bunch was
left 23 minutes behind, already setting the tone for the general
classification (GC) battle.
A bunch sprint featuring the top sprinters
in the bunch was expected on the flat stage run under scorching
sun all the way, but it turned out so differently that the GC
winner of this year’s Tour may well be found in one of the
19 top finishers yesterday.
That battle is now likely to feature 27-year-old
climber Sprick, who has two Tour de France stage wins to his credit
and now leads the LTdL, along with South Africa’s Ian McLeod,
who finished 12th with only a 13-second deficit and the Serramenti
Diquigiovanni duo of Jackson Rodriguez and Ruslan Ivanov, with
Tinkoff’s Yauhen Sobal close by.
Malaysian team Le Tua’s new Australian
signing Bernard Sulzberger did well to finish ninth and stands
fifth in the GC, thanks to time bonuses collected in the three
intermediate sprints on offer yesterday.
The 25-year-old Sulzberger — Herald
Sun Tour mountains classification winner last year — will
also be thinking he has put himself in with a fighting chance
when the race gets to it’s eighth stage up Fraser’s
Hill on Saturday.
Sprick took the victory after attacking
his breakaway partners five kilometres from the finish and he
put himself in a comfortable enough distance to stay ahead of
the chasing pack led by Drapac-Porsche’s Mitchell Docker,
who took charge of the green jersey as the points classification
leader.
“It is my first race of the year and
I was surprised at my own condition today (yesterday). I could
see that there were some good sprinters in the break and it was
whether I was going to join them or try my own way for the finish
if I wanted to win. With five kilometres to go, that was what
I did,” said Sprick.
Today’s second stage will be another
flat one covering 159.7km from Butterworth to Sitiawan, with the
written script expecting the Tour’s first bunch sprint finish.
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