THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Stage 8: Pagliarini scores another at Langkawi
Brazilian sprinter Luciano Pagliarini (Lampre) took a chaotic mass sprint at the end of the Tour de Langkawi’s eighth stage Friday, edging out Enrico Degano of Barloworldin a photo finish. Graeme Brown (Panaria) finished third, while Gord Fraserof Health Net-Maxxis took fourth.
It was Pagliarini's second field sprint victory in as many days, bothexecuted to perfection without the use of a teammate’s lead-out. When askedabout the aggressive sprint, which saw Panaria’s Ruben Bongiorno and Wismilack’sMatnur Matnur crash in the final 500m, Pagliarini laughed.
“All the sprints are crazy,” the 24-year-old South American said. “Ijust took advantage of the other sprinters when I could.”
Like Pagliarini, nearly all the sprinters’ teams had Health Net-Maxxisto thank for leading out the entire peloton from more than 7km to the finishonly to be swallowed up within the final kilometer, leaving Fraser on hisown and begging the question: Did Health Net spend too much energy, toosoon?
“Perhaps, but it’s always better safe than sorry,” Fraser answered.“We’re going to get this thing right sometime, maybe not here at Langkawi,but in America. It’s good practice for us. Unfortunately it didn’t developinto a stage win for us today, but I’m very happy with the way my guysare riding.”
A short (96.4km), flat and windy stage spent mainly on closed-off motorways,the two-hour race started in the heat of the afternoon — 3:44pm — providingan evening finish in the town of Shah Alam, 40km from Malaysia’s capitalof Kuala Lumpur and home to the largest mosque in Southeast Asia.
With winds blowing in from the front and across both sides, and Saturday’sHors Categorie climb up Genting Highlands looming ahead, riders weren’tparticularly thrilled about the idea of going hard, but with the firstof three intermediate sprints just 4km from the start there was littlechoice.
With the points jersey locked up, Fraser was content to let BelgianGert Vanderaerden take the first two intermediate sprints, leapfroggingover race leader Marlon Perez (Colombia-Selle Italia) to second in thecompetition.
The largest time gap of the day never extended beyond two minutes, belongingto a three-man group of Canada’s Peter Wedge, China’s Jianshi Luo and HealthNet’s Mike Sayers. Wedge and Sayers broke away at the 32km point and werejoined by Luo 9km later; by kilometer 49 Sayers sat up, and shortly afterthe peloton was back together.
But from 7km to go it was Sayers and his Health Net teammates at thefront, driving the peloton at speeds of nearly 70kph. Behind Health Net’strain appeared an unusual amount of jockeying for position as the packcame in to the finishing straight.
“My Health Net-Maxxis team did a great job for me in the last 10km,”Fraser said. “They did a great, great, great job. I got on Graeme Brown’swheel with 500 to go, and it was looking pretty good, but for some reasonhis lead-out didn’t go when they really should have, and we got swampedby [Formaggi-Pinzolo’s Ivan] Quaranta and some of the Palmans guys, andthen the festivities began at that point. I didn’t see any hands off thebars, but it was really physical, really for what I thought were not reallyfair reasons. It was head-butting for the sake of head-butting, I thought,and I think Luciano just found the right way through and had a good sprint.”
At the finish both Pagliarini and Degano threw their arms in the air,but a quick look at the photo confirmed that the win belonged to the Brazilian.Afterwards, the smiling Pagliarini – ever the showman - rode a wheelieto the podium to the delight of the crowd.
Although a short stage, it was another day of defending the leader’sjersey for Colombia-Selle Italia. Still, race leader Marlon Perez – ninthin the sprint today – insists the team is feeling good after working hardfor three consecutive days, keeping the pace high to contain any surpriseattacks that might endanger his overall lead.
“We’ve had three hard days working at the front to defend the jerseybut we all feel good and are confident about Genting,” Perez said.
Jersey Update: Yellow (Overall leader): No major changes today. 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 7 points to his tally by taking second-place at the first two intermediate sprints. Forurth-place at the finish gave Fraser another 12, bringing his total to an unassailable 100, while Vanderaerden sits second with 56. Polka Dot (KOM): Perez continues to lead this competition with 33 points. But, as in days past, Perez’s teammate - second-placed Ruber Marin, with 32 - dons the climber's jersey. White, Red and Blue (Top Asian rider): Iran's Ghader Mizbani has worn the jersey since stage 2's ascent into the Cameron Highlands. Mizbani remains in 17th overall, 2:49 down.
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
Stage 9 Preview
The backbreaking climb up to Malaysia’s resort city of Genting Highlandsis expected to be a dramatic battle for the Tour's big names. For climbersand the favorites, the last 25km of the route - a brutal ascent to thefinish at the First World Hotel - will be the most crucial battleground.With two accomplished climbers in the top three overall positions, it’sColombia-Selle Italia’s race to lose. “We can’t make any mistakes tomorrow,”said team director Gianni Savio. “We must ride 100 percent like professionals.”
