October 21/11 10:08 am - Langkawi International MTB Challenge: Stage 4

Posted by Editoress on 10/21/11
 

Platt and Meyer conquer Gunung Raya

Team Bulls’ Karl Platt of Germany and Switzerland’s Vivienne Meyer of Colnago Farbe Sudtirol conquered Langkawi’s highest peak today to take Stage 4 of the Langkawi International Mountainbike Challenge (LIMBC) 2011.

Men’s elite race leader Platt took home the polka dot jersey as King of the Hill despite crossing the line on top of Gunung Raya, 838 metres above sea level, second to Australia’s Don McConnell.

McConnell’s victory was nullified as he had earlier been disqualified by the UCI panel of commissaires headed by Max Mager. The Australian cyclist did not start the Cross Country Marathon (XCM-Stage 1), making him ineligible to compete in the remaining stages. He was however unaware of the disqualification which had been relayed over the communique.

Platt who won Stage 2 at Kampung Tok Senik Resort, was credited with a time of 1 hour 03.57.103mins. Second was South Africa’s Stage 1 winner Burry Stander of Specialized in 1:03.58.099 and Italy’s Johnny Cattaneo of Full Dynamix 1:04.00.44.
“All along I wanted to keep pace with the leaders. It was a good ride up the mountain, I’m happy to have won the jersey. Tomorrow, with a short distance criterium, I am optimistic of landing the overall title,” said Platt.

While Platt kept the yellow jersey for a third successive day, Colnago Farbe Sudtirol rider Nathalie Schneitter of Switzerland too maintained her spot on top of the women’s elite general classification after finishing second behind her compatriot and team mate, Vivienne Meyer, at Gunung Raya.

Both Meyer and Schneitter were bunched together with some of the men’s elite riders en route to the top before Meyer upped the tempo to carve a comfortable lead in the last three kilometres.

“I’m happy that our team has managed a 1-2 finish for the third time and the fourth consecutive day a stage title has gone to our rider,” said Colnago trainer, Edmund Telser.

The Stage 4 race saw the presence of two British professional road cyclists Chris Froome and Adam Blythe at the flag off at Stadium Langkawi. Froome and Blythe clocked 1:04.08.438 and 1:24.31.299 respectively but were not placed on the race classification.

The top local rider in men’s elite was Ahmad Fauzan Lutfi while Masziyaton Mohd Radzi remains the top local women’s elite rider.
LIMBC 2011 draws to a close tomorrow with a cross country criterium at Stadium Langkawi, with a lap distance of 1.94km per lap within 45 minutes each category.