Azerbaijan national team rider Elchin Asadov defied travel fatigue to clinch an unexpected victory in Stage One of the inaugural Tour of Peninsular from Dungun to Kuala Terengganu yesterday.
Asadov and his teammates only arrived at their hotel in Terengganu late on Monday as they had just finished competing in Turkey a day earlier.
The 32-year-old from Fuzuli, however, played his cards to perfection in the 180.6km opening stage as he attacked with a small group in the latter stages of the race before dropping his breakaway group on the final straight.
Asadov took the win in three hours, 57 minutes and 26 seconds — earning him a 10-second time bonus — to take charge of the yellow jersey.
Team Sapura Cycling’s Christian Raileanu (of Moldova), a pre-race favourite for the overall win, did his general classification hopes no harm after coming in a close second while youngster Danieal Haikkal Edy Suhaidee (of Malaysia) surprised many when he came in third.
Asadov, who had spent his last six seasons with Synergy Baku Cycling, said he enjoys racing in Malaysia.
“It was a long 11-hour flight from Turkey to Kuala Lumpur. We then took another flight to Kuala Terengganu, which lasted 40 minutes. We only reached the hotel at about 9 last night (Monday) so it was quite tiring,” he said.
“But I felt good towards the end of the race and decided to attack. I went full throttle with 400m to go and managed to get the win.
“I have to thank my teammates for supporting me as well as our national federation who came here earlier to set up.
“This is my fourth time competing in Malaysia as I had previously competed with Baku here.
It is still early days as far as the GC is concerned and Asadov is aware of the challenges that lie ahead. This includes the fourth stage climb up to Cameron Highlands which will likely determine the overall winner.
“We will have to try hard and see how things go,” he added.
The second stage today will start in Kuala Terengganu and end in Chukai, covering a total distance of 157.4km.