Indonesian riders sweep to victory in sixth stage of tour
Indonesian riders sweep to victory in sixth stage of tour
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya
Local cyclists finished the sixth stage of the Dji Sam Soe
Tour d'Indonesia in grand style with Ryan Ariehan of the
Indonesian National Team emerging as the winner on Sunday.
Ryan chalked up a time of 5:07:01 in the stage which was 234
kilometers long, the longest so far in the tour, between Madiun
and Surabaya.
His time was 1 minute 27 seconds ahead of the nine-member
chasing pack, which included Raziff Jaafar of the Malaysian
National Team B as the only non-Indonesian in the top ten of the
stage.
Nunung Burhanudin of Benteng Muda Tangerang and Abdul Rachman
of the Plygon Sweet Nice B followed behind in a distant second
and third place to complete the stage podium for the Indonesians.
Jaafar was in fourth, followed by Iwan Setiawan (Custom
Cycling Club), Yudhahantara (Sinar Sentosa Purwakarta), Aang
Juanda (Custom Cycling Club), Suwandra (Indonesian National
Team), Toni Lukman (Benteng Muda Tangerang) and Rochmat Nugraha
(Indonesian National Team).
Seeing that his rivals were trailing far behind, Ryan let his
bike ease toward the finish line in a flaunting manner with his
hands tightening his jersey zipper and raising them high in
triumph.
The local sweep came after they were denied a stage win in the
last four stages.
"We just competed at PON (National Games). That might have
been our peak. It proved quite difficult for us to make a quick
recovery in such a short time," said Ryan about generally
lackluster performance by the local riders before the sixth
stage.
Ryan helped the West Java team win a silver in the road race
at the PON in Palembang, South Sumatra, last month.
"Hopefully, the sixth stage victories will motivate us to
improve further in the next stages," said the 25-year-old.
Ryan's teammate Suwandra proved the best sprinter,
grabbing the highest points in the stage which provided two
designated sprint points and on both occasions the local riders
also showed their domination.
On the first occasion, Suwandra led Ydhahantara and Hintao
Youthaporn of Thailand while in the second he was second and
Yudhahantara third behind Nunung Burhanudin.
Youthaporn was handed a 100 Swiss franc fine and his cash
prizes were withheld after he failed to attend the podium
ceremony.
After the first six kilometers of the stage, a number of
riders including Ryan made a breakaway. After struggling against
a strong headwind in Caruban, about 15 kilometers later, the
riders had to cope with the searing heat around Jombang, about
the stage's halfway point, in 37 Celsius heat.
After backing up Suwandra in the sprints, Ryan put the hammer
down and built his lead to around six minutes ahead of his
chasers. The chase pack could only reduce the gap but they were
unable to catch up with him.
Meanwhile, the top three in the general stage classification
did not change with yellow jersey holder Nathan Dahlberg of
Greenfields Fresh Milk, second-placed Amin Suryana of Sinar
Sentosa Purwakarta and Wong Ngai-Cing of the Hong Kong National
Team touched the finish line bunched together in the main pack.
The riders will head southeastward on Monday for the 198.2-
kilometer seventh stage race to Jember.
Results from the sixth stage of the Dji Sam Soe Tour d'Indonesia
from Madiun to Surabaya on Sunday:
Stage individual classification
1. Ryan Ariehan INA/Ina 5:07:01
2. Nunung Burhanudin BMT/Ina 5:08:28
3. Abdul Rachman PSB/Ina 5:08:28
General individual classification
1. Nathan Dahlberg GFM/Nzl 25:54:56
2. Amin Suryana SSP/Ina 25:57:10
3. Wong Ngai-Cing HKG/Hkg 26:01:54
Sprint winners (first point)
1. Suwandra INA/Ina 5 points
2. Yudhahantara SSP/Ina 3 pts
3. Huntao Youthaporn THA/Tha 2 pts
Sprint winners (second point)
1. Nunung Burhanudin BMT/Ina 5 points
2. Suwandra INA/Ina 3 pts
3. Yudhahantara SSP/Ina 2 pts
General individual classification on sprint
1. Suwandra INA/Ina 8 pts
2. Nunung Burhanudin BMT/Ina 5 pts
3. Agus Muhyanto SSP/Ina 5 pts
Stage team classification
1. Indonesia National Team
2. Customs Cycling Club
3. Kencana Bike Team
General team classification
1. Greenfields Fresh Milk
2. Polygon Sweet Nice
3. Hong Kong National