AS GOOD AS IN THE BAG
Fernandez confident of ToP title after romping to Stage Four victory
SPANIARD Marcos Garcia Fernandez has virtually secured the overall title at the inaugural Tour of Peninsular (ToP) after powering to a comfortable Stage Four win yesterday.
It was a splendid 1-2 finish for the Kinan Cycling Team as Fernandez and Thomas Lebas pushed each other harder as the gradient became steeper in the 89.5km route between Sungai Koyan and Cameron Highlands.
Fernandez crossed the finish line in two hours, 21 minutes and 12 seconds while Lebas was 50 seconds adrift.
Indonesia’s Odie Purnama Setiawan (PGN Road Cycling Team) was third (+1:41s).
Lebas was one of the pre-race favourites but his yellow jersey hopes were derailed after a poor showing in Stage One on Tuesday.
Fernandez, who was 32 seconds off the pace in the general classification (GC) at the start of the day, is now in charge of the yellow jersey with a comfortable 3:02s advantage over nearest rival Igor Chzhan of Vino-Astana Motors.
The 32-year-old is confident of sealing the deal in the final stage today.
“I am very happy and grateful to the team. We were super strong today (yesterday),” said Fernandez through a translator yesterday.
“Today was great but tomorrow (today) is a new day. It is good that we have a three-minute advantage. We will discuss our strategy for tomorrow later.
“I trust my team and am confident we will keep the yellow jersey until the end of the tour.”
The 151.4km fifth and final stage today will start in Kuala Lipis and end in Setiawangsa, with intermediate sprints at Raub, Bentong and Gombak as well as two categorised climbs at Bentong (category four) and Genting Sempah (category two).
RESULTS
Stage 4 (Sungai Koyan to Cameron Highlands, 89.5km): 1 Marcos Garcia Fernandez (Spa) Kinan Cycling Team 2:21:12s, 2 Thomas Lebas (Fra) Kinan Cycling Team +50s, 3 Odie Purnama Setiawan (Ind) PGN Road Cycling Team, 4 Edgar Nohales Nieto (Spa) both +1:41s, 5 Jesse Featonby (Aus) Oliver's Real Food Racing, 6 Metkel Eyob (Eri) Terengganu Cycling Teams both +3:12s... 68 Nur Amirull Fakhruddin Mazuki (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team +13:32s.
General classification: 1 Marcos Garcia Fernandez (Spa) Kinan Cycling Team 13:39:41s, 2 Igor Chzhan, (Kaz) Vino-Astana Motors +3:02s, 3 Metkel Eyob (Eri) Terengganu Cycling Team +3:24s, 4 Goh Choon Huat (Sin) +4:02s, 5 Nur
PIC BY ASWADI ALIAS. Aiman Zariff (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling +4:19s.
Asian classification: 1 Igor Chzhan, (Kaz) Vino-Astana Motors 13:42:43s, 2 Goh Choon Huat (Sin) +1:00s, 3 Nur Aiman Zariff (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling +1:17s.
Points classification: 1 Nur Amirull Fakhruddin Mazuki (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team 44pts, 2 Rohan Du Plooy (RSA) Protouch 44, 3 Mahdi Nateghi (Ira) Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan 2.
Mountains classification: 1 Marcos Garcia Fernandez (Spa) Kinan Cycling Team 37pts, 2 Thomas Lebas (Fra) Kinan Cycling Team 35, 3 Odie Purnama Setiawan (Ind) PGN