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.