Taiwans Hsiao Wins Second Tour Stage

Taiwans Hsiao Wins Second Tour Stage
June 06, 2012

Lembah Harau, West Sumatra. In the absence of top Iranian riders, the Tour de Singkarak title appears wide open, with no one dominating the race so far. None of the top three finishers from the opening stage managed to make it back to the podium after the second stage on Tuesday.

Taiwan’s Hsiao Shih-hsin of Action Cycling Team won the second stage, finishing the 124.5-kilometer route from Muaro Sijunjung to Lembah Harau, both in West Sumatra, with a time of 3 hours, 8 minutes and 43 seconds. Alexander Edmondson of the Australian National Team finished second and fellow Australian Alexander Smyth of Plan B Racing Team came in third, both with the same time as Hsiao. About 500 meters before the finish line I was in the front peloton with five other racers from Japan, Australia and Indonesia, said Hsiao, who finished 45th in the first stage on Monday.

But I broke away from the group just 400 meters before the finish and pedaled faster to go first. I’m satisfied with this result and proud of my effort to win this stage. The winner of the first stage, Japan’s Masakazu Ito of Aisan Racing Team, kept the overall lead and the yellow jersey after finishing in the front group with the same time as Hsiao. He has a time of 4:59.50 after two stages of the Rp 1 billion ($106,000) race, giving a 2:08 lead over Hsiao.

I played it safe during the [second] stage, the 23-year-old said. I didn’t feel the urge to win it and just stayed with the leading group. The Australian National Team kept its lead in the team category with a total time of 15:01:22. Three Indonesian racers finished in the top 10 during the second stage.

Nunung Burhanudin of Putra Perjuangan, Bambang Suryadi of Polygon Sweet Nice and Budi Santoso of Warung Sego Penyetan finished 5th, 9th and 10th, respectively, all with the same time as Hsiao. After riding mostly flat and downhill roads in the first two stages, the racers face two steep climbs in today’s 102-kilometer third stage from Payakumbuh to Istano Basa, also in West Sumatra.

At the route’s highest point, 22 kilometers from the start, they will be 1,005 meters above sea level. Since the tour began in 2009, Iranian cyclists have dominated. Ghader Mizbani Iranagh and his Tabriz Petrochemical Team won the individual and team titles in 2009 and 2010, while Amir Zargari and his Azad University Team won last year. Tabriz did not register for this year’s edition and Zargari was not listed among Azad Universitys racers. Source : The Jakarta Globe