Harrif stuns Guardini to end 9-year wait
MELAKA: Malaysian rider, Mohamed Harrif Saleh ended a nine-year wait to record a stage win in the prestigious Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) by winning the second stage from Senawang to Melaka yesterday.
The Terengganu Inc TSG Cycling Team (TSG) sprinter marked his 10th LTdL appearance by stunning the record stage winner of LTdL, Andrea Guardini of Italy, by taking the lead in a bunch finish in the 200.6km race, clocking four hours, 53 minutes and 20 seconds in the historical city.
Team Bardiani CSF’s rider Guardini, who is nicknamed as Mr Langkawi for his record 24 stage wins in LTdL, finished second, ahead of Kazushige Kuboki from the Japanese National Team.
The 30-year-old Harrif also carved his name in the history books to became only the second Malaysian to record a stage victory since the prestigious race was introduced in 1996, after Anuar Manan’s success in 2010 to win Stage five from Muar to Port Dickson.
“This win is very meaningful to me because after five years of marriage, my wife (Nursyahira Nordin, 27) is three months pregnant with our first child. I wanted to give her a special gift and this fits in very well.
“The race today was very challenging because many top sprinters were in the fray, but I used all my experience as well as I could to win. After the climb zones yesterday, I knew i had a good chance (of winning) on this route.
“With 1km left to go, I looked for Guardini and followed him. About 200m from the finishing line, he was tiring, so i I took the opportunity to sprint away from the bunch,” he told the post-race press conference at Dataran Pahlawan here, today.
For record, Harrif has had five podium finishes in the LTdL, third four times (Stage Four and Stage Six last year, Stage Four in 2012 and Stage One in 2011) and second once (Stage Eight in 2012).
Meanwhile, Australian Marcus Culey of Team Sapura Cycling (TSC), who won the first stage from the iconic KLCC to Tampin yesterday, retained his yellow jersey (overall leader) with a total time of 9:13:47s after finishing 67th in the bunch (4:53:20s) today.
Despite not winning any points in the sprints after having a mechanical problem today, the 25-year-old still holds the green jersey (King of Sprint) with 21 points, but is followed closely behind by compatriot Michael Freiberg Pro Sunshine Coast (20 points) and Italian Paolo Simion of Bardiani CSF (19 points).
Another Australian, Angus Lyons from Oliver’s Real Good Racing retained his red jersey (King of Mountain) with 34 points, while South Korean Jihun Kim of KSPO Bianchi Asia Procycling (9:14:03s) wrested the white jersey (Best Asian Rider) from Kazakhstan’s Grigoriy Shetein of Vino Astana Motors with a twosecond lead.
National team rider, Sofian Nabil Omar Mohd Bakri emerged as the best overall Malaysian despite having the same total time of 9:14:05s with TSC’s Muhamad Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff, while the latter’s teammate Muhammad Zawawi Azman (9:14:19s) ranked third.
It helped the TSC to continue to remain at the top of the Team General Classification with an overall time of 27:42:10s, followed by Italian outfit, Bardiani CSF (27:42:15s) and Protouch (27:42:15s) from South Africa.
The excitement will continue in the third stage tomorrow. starting at Stadium Ibrahim, Muar and finishing at Dataran Putrajaya (192.6km), with three sprints at Simpang Ampat (KM72.6), Lubok Cina (KM90.1) and Lukut (KM131.1) as well as a Category Three climb at Bukit Pelanduk (KM131.1). - Bernama