Italian rider Missaglia wins tour title

Italian rider Missaglia wins tour title

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Italian rider Gabriele Missaglia, who had taken the lead only one day earlier, won the 12-stage Tour de Langkawi cycling race Sunday.

The 28-year-old rider of the professional team Mapei-Bricobi received the 80,000 ringgit (US$20,000) first prize from Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Missaglia had taken the leader's yellow jersey for the first time from teammate Andrea Tafi on Saturday.

His total time of 45 hours, 12 minutes, 50 seconds put him 26 seconds ahead of teammate Giuliano Figueras.

Scrigno-Gaerne rider Luca Cei won the competition's final stage, the Kuala Lumpur criterium race, covering the 65 kilometers (40 miles) from the hill resort of Genting Highlands in one hour, 24 minutes, 36 seconds.

Poland's Piotr Wadecki from the MROZ team finished a close second, while Graeme Miller of New Zealand was third. All three were clocked in the same time.

Indonesian Tonton Susanto won 20,000 ringgit ($5,000) for being the best East Asian rider overall.

The "King of the Mountain" title went to Douglas Ryder of South Africa, who received 25,000 ringgit ($6,250).

American Fred Rodriguez from the Saturn team was crowned "King of Sprint." He also received 25,000 ringgit ($6,250).

About 150 riders competed in the tour, which began Feb. 18 in Langkawi.

Results

Final stage: 1. Luca Cei 1hr 24mins 36secs 2. Piotr Wadecki (Pol) same time 3. Graeme Miller (Nzl) same time 4. Fred Rodriguez (USA) same time 5. Nor Affandy Rosli (Mal) same time

Standings: 1. Gabriele Missaglia 45hrs 12mins 50secs 2. Giuliano Figueras 45:13:16 3. Niklas Axelsson 45:14:15 4. Andrew McClean (Rsa) 45:15:09 5. Andrea Tafi 45:15:27