Yakovlev wins 2nd Tour stage, Amin still leading
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Tasikmalaya, West Java
Yevgeny Yakovlev of Polygon Sweet 'n' Nice pulled away early and went on to win the second stage of the Tour d'Indonesia cycling race here on Tuesday, while Amin Suryana retained the yellow jersey after finishing in the main pack of riders.
The 135-kilometer stage from Bandung to Tasikmalaya was marred by an accident near the finish line that left Amir Mahmud of Giant Asia Racing Team with a fracture of his right shoulder and another five riders with minor injuries.
At the end of the race, Ben Robson of Greenfields Fresh Milk and Ferinanto of the Indonesian national team, who placed second and third behind Yakovlev in the climbing points category, were penalized for failing to turn up for the award ceremony.
The two riders not only had their cash prizes canceled but were also handed fine of 100 Swiss Francs (about Rp 600,000) each.
"Having to attend the ceremony for the winners is obligatory, according to the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) rules," Jamaludin Mahmud, the international commissioner, told the Jakarta Post.
He also confirmed that Amir Mahmud's tour was done, after the doctor examined him.
On the road, Yakovlev, a 24-year-old from Kazakhstan, showed his strength by covering the stage in two hours, 57 minutes and eight seconds to make amends for his disappointing run in the opening stage in which he had mechanical problems after taking the lead.
"I had a tire puncture during the opening stage and it required ten minutes to fix. Today, I tried hard to win this race," Yakovlev said.
The victory, according to team manager Harijanto Tjondro, came beyond the team's expectation given the initial plan that the team would have been content to simply see the rider get some climbing points on the mountainous course.
However, as the race developed it started to become clear that Yakovlev was able not only to beat his rivals on the 7-kilometer climb, but maintain his pace to wind up with the stage victory.
Yakovlev touched the finishing line far ahead of second place Edmund Hollands of Giant Asia Racing Team and third place Llydo Reynante of Pagcor Casino Filipino almost three minutes behind.
Yakovlev's teammate and compatriot Vyacheslav Dyadichkin followed closely behind. Another three riders to finish later were Hong Kong National Team's Wong Kam-Po, Wong Ngai-Ching and Malaysian Suhardi Hasan.
Although the route was not as long and time-consuming as in the opening stage, the Bandung-Tasikmalaya stage provided the riders with the task of coping with a dangerous section which began from the Nagrek slope, which is notorious for traffic accidents, to Cibereum around five kilometers from the finish line.
The route was generally characterized by steep slopes, sharp and clipping turns, along which deep ravines made for a daunting view. But Yakovlev did not appear to be phased, making a steady acceleration of speed to leave other riders far behind.
After his early attack in the first 20 kilometers of the stage did not give him a significant gap over the chasing pack, comprising Abdul Rochman, Ben Robson, Kohar, Bernard Luzon and Ferinanto, the Kazakhs jumped to another break after another three kilometers and he began to build on the gap until the summit of the climb.
"At the summit, he asked me about the chasers' position. And I said just go to the finish line," Harijanto said.
While the home riders were denied podium awards during the stage, Amin Suryana of Sinar Sentosa managed to conserve his overall lead and will keep the yellow jersey when the tour enters the third stage from Tasikmalaya to Purwokerto in Central Java for a 155-kilometer race.
Amin, who finished in the main bunch of around 40 riders including pre-race favorite Iranian Ghader Mizbani, has the best time of eight hours, four minutes and 50 seconds.
In the team classification, Greenfields Fresh Milk is in the lead with 24:31.48. Polygon Sweet 'n' Nice Pro Team is in second place, 16:42 behind, and Hong Kong National Team is in third at 20:29 behind.