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Sunday February 10, 2008

Cycling: A Sprick surprise

KUALA LUMPUR: Frenchman Matthieu Sprick sprang a surprise when he swept past the big names to claim Stage One of the Tour of Langkawi (LTdL), Asia’s biggest road race, which was flagged off from from Alor Star yesterday.

Despite the scorching heat, the Bouygues Telekom rider, who was part of a 19-rider breakaway group from 25km out of Alor Star, stepped up the pace 2km from the finish in Kepala Batas.

The others, done in by the flat but gruelling 182.6km long stage, failed to follow Sprick and finished almost three seconds behind.

Sprick sensationally crossed the line in 4’10:55 while Aussie Mitchell Docker and Italian Diego Nosotti were second and third respectively.

“I am very satisfied with the first day of racing, considering that it was my first race of the year. I hope to continue winning,” said Sprick, who was awarded the prestigious leader’s yellow jersey.

Timely arrival: Riders make their way past a clock tower at the Dataran Sungai Petani during stage one of the Tour of Langkawi on Saturday. – Bernama

“I am very happy to be in Malaysia because I’ve heard a lot of good things about the Tour and I must admit that I was very surprised with the quality of the riders.

“I am especially happy with my form today (yesterday). It will be hard to defend the yellow jersey tomorrow (today) as there are a lot of good riders on this Tour.”

Sprick’s win will surely put the pressure on world-class sprinters Danilo Hondo (Serramenti PVC), Ruben Biongiorno (CSF Navigare) and last year’s five-stage winner Alberto Loddo (Tinkoff Credit Systems).

Shinichi Fukushima (Meitan Hompo GDR) was the catalyst in the three-man breakaway early at the start. They were followed by Jean-Marc Marino (Credit Agricole), Ruslan Ivanov (Serramenti PVC) and Jackson Rodriguez (Serramenti PVC). The pack eventually grew to 19 riders.

Along the way, Matt Wilson (Team Type 1) bagged the first two sprints while Fukushima the third. The third sprint win turned out to be crucial for it helped Fukushima take the Asian riders’ blue jersey.

“I felt good at the beginning and attacked early,” said the Japanese.

“I was not thinking of the Asian jersey although I must admit that now that the attention is on me, it will be hard to go for a stage win.”

The last 5km saw team Tinkoff working hard before Sprick made it all his own with 2km left.

Meanwhile, the best-placed Malaysian finisher was national cyclist Mohd Rauf Nur Misbah, who came in a creditable 20th overall.

Stage 2 will be flagged off in Butterworth at 12.40 this afternoon and the 159.7km race will end in Sitiawan.

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