SOUTH African Rohan Du Plooy (ProTouch) timed his move to perfection to snatch a hard earned victory in the second stage of the inaugural Tour of Peninsular (ToP) yesterday.
The stage, which started in Kuala Terengganu and ended in Chukai covering a total distance of 157.4km, saw numerous attacks launched from early on.
But all the riders were back together just before the start of the only categorised climb (cat 4) of the day at Kijal, roughly 14km from the finish.
Team Sapura Cycling’s (TSC) Nur Aiman Zariff took the king of mountains (KOM) points at Kijal but Du Plooy went into attack mode just over the top and hung on to clinch a close win in three hours 30 minutes and 43 seconds.
Iranian Amirhossein Jamshidian Ghlehsefidi (Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan) rode with him to finish second while Terengganu Cycling Team (TSG) sprinter Harrif Saleh, who was part of the chasing pack, sneaked onto the podium in third.
Du Plooy, who comfortably led the points classification with 37 points, said it was a positive result considering his slow start to the day.
“I wasn’t feeling super great at the start of the day after a tough stage yesterday (Tuesday) but mentally you just have to push through it,” said Du Plooy.
“My legs started to feel better as we moved on through the course. We had a few options (yesterday) and I am very happy that we could pull off one of them.
“We caught the breakaway (group) just a few kilometres before the climb (Kijal) and the plan was just to stay at the front over the climb and see what happens.
“With 100m to go (top of the climb) I saw that a small group, which included one of my teammates, Kent Main and another rider, had gone clear and I sort of felt good at the time, so I crossed over.
“We really committed to it and it was one of the those days when the breakaway could stay away (from the peloton) but it was really close.
“I think it was about 10 to 15 seconds gap (to the peloton) with about one km to go and it was even closer on the line.
“Everyday is a new opportunity and you go in with a different plan and different strategy. We will definitely go into tomorrow (stage three) trying to win again.”
Stage one winner Elchin Asadov (Azerbaijan national team), who finished on the same time as the winning group, remained in charge of the yellow jersey with an unchanged four-second advantage over second-placed Christian Raileanu (TSC).
Danieal Haikkal Edy Suhaidee (Malaysia’s national team) also remained in the lead of the Asian classification.
Aiman’s (TSC) better finishing time saw him displacing Indonesian Aiman Cahyadi (PGN Road Cycling) atop the mountains classification standings despite both riders having six points.
The third stage today will start in Kuantan and finish in Karak, covering a total distance of 172.7km.
RESULTS (Stage Two, Kuala Terengganu to Chukai 157.4km): 1 Rohan Du Plooy (South Africa) ProTouch 3:30:43s, 2 Amirhossein Jamshidian Ghlehsefidi (Iran) Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan, 3 Harrif Saleh (Malaysia) Terengganu Cycling Team, 4 Mahdi Nateghi (Iran) Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan, Reynard Butler (South Africa) Protouch — all same time.
General classification: 1 Elchin Asadov (Azerbaijan) Azerbaijan National Team 7:27:59s, 2 Christian Raileanu (Moldova) Team Sapura Cycling +4s, 3 Danieal Haikkal Edy Suhaidee (Malaysia) National Team +6s, 4 Igor Chzhan (Kazakhstan) Vino-Astana Motors +10s, 5 Rohan Du Plooy (South Africa) ProTouch +15s.
Asian classification: 1 Danieal Haikkal Edy Suhaidee (Malaysia) National Team 7:28:05s, 2 Igor Chzhan (Kazakhstan) Vino-Astana Motors +4s, 3 Nur Amirull Fakhruddin Mazuki (Malaysia) Terengganu Cycling Team+21s.
Points classification: 1 Rohan Du Plooy (South Africa) ProTouch 37pts, 2 Mario Vogt (Germany) Team Sapura Cycling 20pts, 3 Nur Amirull Fakhruddin Mazuki (Malaysia) Terengganu Cycling Team 18pts.
Mountains classification: 1 Nur Aiman Zariff (Malaysia) Team Sapura Cycling 6pts, 2 Aiman Cahyadi (Indonesia) PGN Road Cycling Team 6pts, 3 Amirhossein Jamshidian Ghlehsefidi (Iran) Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan 1pt.