Malaysia back in Tour victory

Malaysia back in Tour victory

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Cyclists returned to racing during the fourth stage of
Indonesia's death-marred Tour d'ISSI on Wednesday, with the
Malaysian team back in control, according to Antara.

The Malaysian team, which won the first two stages but dropped
the third stage, returned to its winning ways during the 135-
kilometer fourth stage between Purwokerto to Pekalongan.

Approaching the finish line, Musa powered away in a sprint
race recording a stage time of three hours and seven minutes.

He was followed by Zulkipli of West Kalimantan and Nunung
Burhanuddin of West Java, four and six seconds behind
respectively.

Amin Suryana of West Java was crowned the King of the Climb,
beating Malaysian Hassan and Kohar of Jakarta.

The Malaysians dominated the first two stages with Suhardi
Hassan winning the opening stage from Jakarta to Cianjur and
Mahazir Hamad taking the second from Bandung to Tasikmalaya.

The Tour d'ISSI, which is scheduled to complete 1,391
kilometer route from Jakarta to Surabaya in nine stages, will
enter the fifth stage with Hassan keeping the yellow jersey.

Hassan has registered a total of 13 hours 55 minutes and 27
seconds in the overall standings. Amin is in second at 13:55:35
and Musa in third at 13:56:05.

The fourth stage was characterized by a rough road surface and
an incline spanning four kilometers from Bobot Sari in
Purbalingga regency to Belik in the area bordering Pemalang
regency.

Entering the Bobot Sari-Belik section, the peloton split in
groups, with Amin Suryana, Suhardi Hassan and Kohar pulling clear
of the pack.

Later, on the way down, the group again caught up with the
three.

In the last 30 kilometers, Musairi Musa along with a few of
other riders including Zulkipli and Nunung sped up to break away
on a flat passage.

With Sadikin of Lampung and Abdurrahman of Yogyakarta joining
in, the three were involved in a sprint, which the Malaysian won.

Musa admitted to being lucky to win the stage given that he
had felt a bit unwell the previous night and had to take some
medication.

He said on ascending the climb he restrained from upping the
gear to catch up with the leading pack.

"But on riding down, I maximized the speed to get in the
leading group and toward the finish I powered hard," he said.

Meanwhile, Nunung said he was not aware that a group of
competitors were already close behind as he led in the last
kilometer.

"I broke fast in the last kilometer, but then I noticed three
riders closing in on me. I was caught flat toward the finish," he
said.

Indonesian cyclist Yana Rochdiana was killed when he collided
with a bus during stage two from Bandung to Tasikmalaya.