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Pagliarini edges Fraser in Langkawi sprint
Pontian-Melaka (166.7km)
On a hot, flat stage 7 designed for the peloton’s musclemen, Brazilian hotshot Luciano Pagliarini (Lampre) took a mass sprint Thursday, narrowly edging out points leader Gord Fraser (Health Net). It was Pagliarini’s first win this year, to add to the three consecutive wins he took in Malaysia in 2003.
“I want to thank my team,” a grinning Pagliarini said, clearly happy to have the first win of the year under his belt. “They had a lot of confidence in me, and brought me to the finish.”
It was another day of frustration for Fraser, who finished third in Wednesday’s sprint, but, barring injury, the Canadian sprinter is a lock for the 10-day stage race’s points jersey. Nonetheless, Fraser said he would like a stage win to accompany it.
“I’m a little disappointed in second,” he said, “but it’s not too bad considering the quality of field here. Any sprinter here is world class, so you can’t be too disappointed.”
How it unfolded
The 167km stage traveled north from the coastal town of Pontian to the historical town of Melaka, facing a barrage of cross- and headwinds in its entirety. Racing was aggressive from the start, with attacks and counterattacks from the start. In the day’s first split, a 21 man group, was the yellow jersey of race leader Marlon Perez (Colombia-Selle Italia), looking to give his teammates his some relief after spending much of Wednesday at the front of the peloton. The group was quickly reeled in, however, within the first 10km.
The next break to go was a seven-man group initiated by Canadian cyclo-cross champion Peter Wedge and represented by De-Nardi, Health Net, Japan, Bert Story-Piels, Ireland and Lampre. The group stayed away a bit longer, for 36km, before it too was reabsorbed by a peloton led by the Barloworld team of fourth-placed overall rider Ryan Cox.
Japan’s Shinichi Fukushima initiated the day’s main breakaway immediately following the feed zone at 68km. Fukushima - brother of 2003’s maverick Koji Fukushima and one of the riders in Wednesday’s failed break caught 5km from the finish – stayed away for nearly 100km with a maximum lead of 2:15, but was caught, and dropped, with 7km remaining.
From there the sprinters teams took over. Led by Lampre, Panaria, Health Net, Chocolade-Jacques, Canada and Ireland, the peloton blasted into Melaka, the stage of Tuesday’s time trial.
Looking to find a win for 2003 points jersey winner Graeme Brown, Panaria led out the sprint, with Health Net and Lampre jockeying for position. But the strong headwind proved too much for Brown, and in the final 50km Fraser and Pagliarini battled it out to the line, with Pagliarini taking it by inches.
“The strong headwind made it very difficult for any team to really control,” Fraser said. “As a result, it was a little more chaotic.”But Pagliarini had taken account of the wind, and slipped down the righthand side of the bunch.“There was a risk involved as the wind was blowing riders across the road towards the righthand gutter,” he said, “and I could have got squeezed into the barriers and out of it, but I found a gap and went for it.”
Race NotesOverall leader Marlon Perez - winner of the stage 2 climb into the Cameron Highlands and second-placed finisher in the stage 5 time trial - finished 10th in today’s field sprint, prompting questions as to what he was doing in the sprint and whether he’s a climber or a sprinter.“My team manager [Gianni Savio] told me over the radio that I should keep near the front of the big bunch on the run-in to the finish so I would not get caught up in any crashes,” said Perez, a former world junior points race champion on the track. “I did as I was told and when I found myself up in the front ranks as we came down the finishing straight, I thought 'Why not have a go in the sprint?.' I felt comfortable all day and the team is riding well, with two of us still in the top three and our third man in 18th place, so things are looking good.”The Indonesian Wismilack team had a rough day, as sprinter Wawan Setyobuldistruck a flag-waving course marshal at full-speed within the final 2km.Neither rider nor marshal were seriously harmed, but Setyobuldi, eighth-placed finisher Wednesday, took 121st on the stage, 1:19 down.
Jersey UpdateYellow (Overall leader): No major changes today, although Colombia-Selle Italia's Marlon Perez did gain four seconds with his tenth-place finish. Relax-Bodysol's Hector Guerra Garcia sits second, 36 seconds behind, with Perez’s teammate Freddy Gonzalez third, 46 seconds down.Blue (Points): Blue jersey wearer Gord Fraser added 10 points(5,3,2) to his tally by winning the first intermediate sprint, taking second in the second, and third in the third. Second-place at the finish gave him another 14, bringing his total to 81, while Perez sits second with 43.Polka Dot (KOM): With nothing resembling so much as a mole hill today, Perez continues to lead this competition with 31 points. But, as in days past, Perez’s teammate - second-placed Ruber Marin - dons the climber's jersey.White, Red and Blue (Top Asian rider): Iran's Ghader Mizbanihas worn the jersey since stage 2's ascent into the Cameron Highlands. Mizbani sits 17th overall, 2:49.
Team Standings
1. Barloworld
2. Colombia Selle-Italia, at 1:38
3. Relax-Bodysol, at 3:29
4. Canadian National, at 8:20
5. Lampre, at 8:20
A look ahead: Stage 8
The race winds its way back towards Kuala Lumpur and the short ride of 96.4km should again turn the race into an aggressive affair. This stage will take riders through Lukut, Sepang F1 Circuit, Dengkil, and Puchong before finishing at Dataran Shah Alam. It will be the last chance for sprinters to shine as the top riders prepare themselves for the hard climb in Genting.
