KUALA TERRENGANU, Malaysia—Riders of 7-Eleven Cliqq Roadbike Philippines fell at least one rung in all classifications in Stage Three of the Le Tour de Langkawi on Tuesday when the peloton reacted too late to muster its monstrous speed and failed to gobble up four cyclists who practically led from start to finish.
Skipper Marcelo Felipe dropped from eighth to outside of the top 10 in the general classification and in the Best Asian Rider category, while 7-Eleven Cliqq Roadbike Philippines also fell back in the team classificastion and Best Asian Team race.
The commissaires panel withheld releasing the official result for the stage pending a thorough evaluation of a fight among Chinese and Malaysian team members at the finish. The fight was reportedly instigated by rough riding by cyclists of the teams involved.
The all-Filipino team’s strategy for the day hardly worked as most of the big names pedalled elbow to elbow in the peloton instead of catching stage winner, Canadian Adam De Vos (Rally Cycling), and eight others who broke away just 8 kilometers into the 166-km grind from Kota Bahru.
“The sprinters were tasked to do the job today, but the peloton was just so tight and the reaction was already too late for the GC riders to catch up for a bunch finish,” 7-Eleven Cliqq Roadbike Philippines Sports Director Ric Rodriguez told the BusinessMirror.
De Vos and company patiently labored at the front of the race, leading by as much as close to eight minutes over generally flat roads. The peloton started to react with 40 km to go but it turned out too late.
De Vos mounted all what is left of his strength in the final 5 km and finished solo in three hours, 58 minutes and 18 seconds. He beat Kim Daeyeon (KSPO Bianchi Asia Procycling), Nik Mohd Azwan Zulkiflie (Forca Amskins Racing) and Harrison Sweeney (Michelton Bikeexchange)—his companions for almost the entire race in the lead—by 13 seconds.
De Vos thus became the third rider to wear the leader’s yellow jersey with an aggregate time of 12:45:31, while Zulkiflie grabbed second spot and the lead in the Best Asian Rider category 14 seconds behind the pace.
Sweeney was 22 seconds further in third place, followed by second-day winner Riccardo Minali (1:19 behind) of Astana Pro Team and Matteo Malucelli (1:24 behind) of Androni Giocattoli-Sidermic.
The team’s sprinters—Dominic Perez, Arjay Peralta and national team member Rustom Lim—kept the team near the front of the peloton, but with the winds blowing strongly from the Malaysian coast on the left side of the route and the 34-degree heat again sapping the field dry, the breakaway riders held on to dominate the stage that shuffled the top 10 in the GC.
“We were caught in the middle of the peloton and there was hardly any room to squeeze in front and break away,” said the 23-year-old from Santo Tomas, Pangasinan, who clinched a Most Combative Award for his aggressiveness in Stage Three of last year’s race.
The finish was again technical with two sharp bends and a narrow stretch to the finish. A crash occurred in the final 3.2 km and 1.6 km involving six riders, including 7-Eleven Cliqq Roadbike Philippines rookie 19-year-old Danien Ven Carino, who sustained scratches on the left elbow and knee.
“The riders ahead of me crashed and I had no chance to avoid them,” said Carino, who earned the same time as the group he was with at the time of the crash because of the final 3-km rule of the International Cycling Union.
The Filipino cyclists took a breather from the Malaysian heat late afternoon on Tuesday and took a dip in the beach just off the oficial hotel of the UCI 2.Hors Category event organized by Ciclista Sports with the full support of the Malaysia Ministry of Youth and Sports.
Stage Four on Wednesday will be a little longer at 177.60 km from Dungun to Pekan, and features one King of the Mountain point and three sprints.
“Tomorrow, it will be your turn to carry the team,” Rodriguez told Lim, Arjay Peralta and Bonijoe Martin. “The stage is for our climbers [Marcelo and Carino].”
Marcelo maintained his grip of No. 2 in the KOM classification with the 19 points he earned from Stage Two. He trailed Colombian Bernardo Albeiro Suaza Arango (Manzana Postobon) by only one point.
The eight-stage Le Tour de Langkawi ends on Sunday in Kuala Lumpur.