Yakovlev wins 2nd Tour stage, Amin still leading

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.