Ferinanto hits four, Razali wins Tour d'ISSI
Ferinanto hits four, Razali wins Tour d'ISSI
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesian cyclist Ferinanto pedaled his way to a fourth stage
win in the Dji Sam Soe Tour d'ISSI race on Tuesday, but it was
not enough to earn him the winner's trophy which went to
Malaysia's Shahrulneeza Razali.
Local hero Ferinanto clocked three hours, 25 minutes and 28
seconds as he completed the 151-kilometer closing stage from the
East Java capital of Surabaya to Taman Dayu in Malang, beating
another Malaysian Mahazir Hamad in the final sprint.
It was the second stage win in a row for Ferinanto in his home
province, but his total time was outside the top three in the
overall standings. Ferinanto lost too much time when he failed to
finish the fourth stage from Purwokerto to Pekalongan in Central
Java last Wednesday.
Ferinanto, a native of Madiun, scored his fourth stage win by
making full use of the descending road and the flat track heading
to the finish.
"I just tried to stay with the big peloton. And while most of
the cyclists played it safe to maintain their individual and team
standings, I took advantage of this situation," sprint specialist
Ferinanto said after the race.
Consistency was the key to Razali's victory, although the
Malaysian won only one stage, the sixth one between Semarang and
Yogyakarta on Friday.
He became the second Malaysian to win the Tour since its
inception in 1968 after Ng. Joo Ngan, who triumphed in the second
edition of the cycling race in 1970.
Razali clocked a total time of 34:32:19 to complete the 1,391-
kilometer route between Jakarta and Malang to lead a Malaysian
one-two finish ahead of compatriot Suhardi Hasan, the winner of
the opening stage on Aug. 18. Indonesia's Amin Suryana, who
represented West Java finished third.
It was the first win for Razali outside his home soil.
"I'm glad to win the individual title, although it is the work
of the team. I won thanks to the help of my team mates," Razali
said as quoted by Antara
Malaysia should have won also the team title, but the
competition regulations do not allow a team to sweep the laurels.
The organizers awarded the President's Cup trophy to West Java as
the winning team instead.
Ferinanto won the consolation best sprint title, while
Malaysia's Hasan took the best climber title.
This year's Tour, the 13th edition of the race, was marred by
the death of Yana Rochdiana in the second stage last Tuesday
after he collided with a passenger bus near Bandung regency.