 |
| Nur Amirul Fakhruddin wins stage 4 at Kudat |
 |
| Stage 4 Winners |
 |
| Jersey leaders after stage 4 |
KUDAT : Another exciting stage of the Tour of Borneo saw Nur
Amirul Fakhruddin Mazuki emerging from the shadows of his more illustrious
teammates to clinch an unexpected victory in stage four today.
The Terengganu Cycling Team (TSG) rider crossed the line in
three hours, 43 minutes and 36 seconds after covering 149.5km from Tuaran to
Kudat. New Zealand's Thomas Hubbard (Data #3 Symantec Racing Team) and Peeter
Pruus (Rietmu-Delfin Continental Cycling Team) finished second and third.
Pruus now leads the general classification but Nur Amirul is
a close second, only 1:21s behind the Estonian as the Tour of Borneo moves into
its final stage tomorrow.
Amirul has already achieved podium finishes at the Tour of
Poyang Lake and Tour of Singkarak earlier this season and said he is happy to
add another feather to his cap.
TSG's Mohd Harrif Saleh came close to winning a stage when
finished third and second in stage two and three earlier in the Tour of Borneo.
"Obviously, I am really happy to get this win. To be
honest, I did not set out today expecting to do it," said the 23-year-old,
who is the first Malaysian to win a stage in the Tour of Borneo this year.
"Initially my role was to help Mohd Harrif win the stage
but he felt tired after the climbs and told me to push ahead.
"It feels great to be second in the GC but I expect the
fight for the yellow jersey to be tough tomorrow as there are a lot of good
climbers.
"But I will try my best and we will see how things
go."
Amirul's win saw him displace Fauzan Ahmad Lutfi (Police) as
the Asian classification leader and will wear the white jersey in what is
expected to be a grueling final stage.
Harrif's hopes of ending the tour with the green jersey are
looking good as he took the lead in the sprints competition for a first time
with a good showing in the intermediate sprints in stage four while Pegasus
Continental Cycling Team's Agung Ali Sahbana took the red jersey from Pruus.
Stage five will see riders covering 181.1km, the longest in
the Tour of Borneo, with a steep climb up to Kundasang (1,519m) set to put
their endurance to the test.
Tour of Borneo is organized by Borneo International Cycling,
held from 31st October to 4th November 2015. The 2.2 category Tour is
sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) and is listed in UCI Asian
Tour calendar, it is hoped to promote Sabah as the ultimate sports tourism
destination in Malaysia, and promote
cycling in the state.
No comments:
Post a Comment