Ryan beats Razali for 7th stage victory
Ryan beats Razali for 7th stage victory
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Ryan Ariehaan gave the West Java cycling team their first stage
win in the Tour d'ISSI after finishing first in the seventh
stage, which covered 181 kilometers from Yogyakarta to Madiun, on
Sunday.
Ryan's victory in four hours, six minutes and 31 seconds was
sealed by a powerful sprint to the finish line, in which he
outpedaled Malaysian ace Shahrulneeza Razali. Ferinanto of East
Java came third.
Razali wrested the yellow jersey from compatriot Suhardi
Hassan with a total time of 25 hours, 51 minutes and 55 seconds.
Hassan followed a minute and nine seconds behind with Amin
Suryana of West Java dropping to third a minute and 29 seconds
adrift.
It was West Java's first stage win with seven of the tour's
nine stages having been completed. The Malaysian team took four
stages with East Java two, courtesy of Ferinanto.
Despite failing to win Sunday's race, Malaysia, which has led
the overall team standings throughout, has built up a significant
lead by 47 seconds with the team seeing four of its riders in the
top ten on the day compared to close-rival West Java's two.
The other Malaysians in the top ten were Mahazir Hamad,
Suhardi Hassan and Musairi Musa, while West Java had Nunung
Burhanuddin as the only other rider in the leaders' pack.
Ryan was elated at his win. "I'm glad and relieved that we
just won a stage. Previously, West Java could only finish either
second or third," said the 24-year-old as quoted by Antara.
The seventh stage consisted of a relatively flat run from
Yogyakarta through Klaten, Sragen, Ngawi and finally Madiun.
Meanwhile, Suwantoro of Central Java won the intermediate race
in Sragen regency, 92.8 kilometers from the starting line. Catur
Wahyono of East Java and Malaysia's Musairi Musa came second and
third respectively.
After the seventh stage, the riders must now brace themselves
for stage eight, the longest stage in the tour, which covers the
234 kilometers from Madiun to Surabaya.