Malaysia back in Tour victory<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Cyclists returned to racing during the fourth stage of
\nIndonesia's death-marred Tour d'ISSI on Wednesday, with the
\nMalaysian team back in control, according to Antara.<\/p>\n
The Malaysian team, which won the first two stages but dropped
\nthe third stage, returned to its winning ways during the 135-
\nkilometer fourth stage between Purwokerto to Pekalongan.<\/p>\n
Approaching the finish line, Musa powered away in a sprint
\nrace recording a stage time of three hours and seven minutes.<\/p>\n
He was followed by Zulkipli of West Kalimantan and Nunung
\nBurhanuddin of West Java, four and six seconds behind
\nrespectively.<\/p>\n
Amin Suryana of West Java was crowned the King of the Climb,
\nbeating Malaysian Hassan and Kohar of Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The Malaysians dominated the first two stages with Suhardi
\nHassan winning the opening stage from Jakarta to Cianjur and
\nMahazir Hamad taking the second from Bandung to Tasikmalaya.<\/p>\n
The Tour d'ISSI, which is scheduled to complete 1,391
\nkilometer route from Jakarta to Surabaya in nine stages, will
\nenter the fifth stage with Hassan keeping the yellow jersey.<\/p>\n
Hassan has registered a total of 13 hours 55 minutes and 27
\nseconds in the overall standings. Amin is in second at 13:55:35
\nand Musa in third at 13:56:05.<\/p>\n
The fourth stage was characterized by a rough road surface and
\nan incline spanning four kilometers from Bobot Sari in
\nPurbalingga regency to Belik in the area bordering Pemalang
\nregency.<\/p>\n
Entering the Bobot Sari-Belik section, the peloton split in
\ngroups, with Amin Suryana, Suhardi Hassan and Kohar pulling clear
\nof the pack.<\/p>\n
Later, on the way down, the group again caught up with the
\nthree.<\/p>\n
In the last 30 kilometers, Musairi Musa along with a few of
\nother riders including Zulkipli and Nunung sped up to break away
\non a flat passage.<\/p>\n
With Sadikin of Lampung and Abdurrahman of Yogyakarta joining
\nin, the three were involved in a sprint, which the Malaysian won.<\/p>\n
Musa admitted to being lucky to win the stage given that he
\nhad felt a bit unwell the previous night and had to take some
\nmedication.<\/p>\n
He said on ascending the climb he restrained from upping the
\ngear to catch up with the leading pack.<\/p>\n
"But on riding down, I maximized the speed to get in the
\nleading group and toward the finish I powered hard," he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Nunung said he was not aware that a group of
\ncompetitors were already close behind as he led in the last
\nkilometer.<\/p>\n
"I broke fast in the last kilometer, but then I noticed three
\nriders closing in on me. I was caught flat toward the finish," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Indonesian cyclist Yana Rochdiana was killed when he collided
\nwith a bus during stage two from Bandung to Tasikmalaya.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/malaysia-back-in-tour-victory-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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