Repeat hill riders in the spotlight in stage two TDIJ

JOHOR BAHRU: Hill riders are expected to hog the limelight in the second stage of Tour de Iskandar Johor (TDIJ) 2019 yesterday as the race will take cyclists through many hilly stretches.

Among the competitors who will be closely watched are Team Sapura Cycling (TSC), hill-racing expert Benjamin Dyball and Mathew Zenovich of St George Cycling (STG) who will be going all out to retain the red jersey as “King of the Hill” in this championship.

The leader of this championship, “Sprint King” Ryan Roth of XSpeed United Continental (XSU), will also be in contention as he strives to hold on to the blue jersey he won.

Stage two, which was flagged off by Muar District Officer Mohd Haffiz Ahmad at 11 am today, involves 103 cyclists who will be taken through the longest route yet, 163.6 km from Tanjung Emas to Yong Peng town.

The racers will pass through Tangkak, the foot of Gunung Ledang, Segamat, Labis and Chaah before finishing at Jalan Besar near Yong Peng town.

Three sprint zones await the riders in Tangkak, Segamat and Chaah while a CAT4 category hill-climb zone is located in Gunung Ledang.

On Wednesday, Roth showed his mettle by winning stage one.

Roth finished the race at Dataran Penggaram, Batu Pahat in 2 hrs 35 min and 3 sec while second place went to Zenovich of STG with the same time.

Le Tour de Langkawi (LTDL) 2019 champion Benjamin Dyball of Team Sapura Cycling TSC finished third, also in a time of 2 hrs 35 min 3 sec. - Bernama