February 10/02 9:03 am - Tour de Langkawi: Stage 10 story

Posted by Editoress on 02/10/02
 

Today's final stage at the Tour de Langkawi was a high speed criterium that provided a great show for spectators, saw Australian Graeme Brown (Panaria) win his second stage, but did little to affect the final GC. As expected, Colombian Hernan Dario Munoz stepped onto the winner's rostrum for the prize presentation which brought the Telekom Tour de Langkawi to a close in Kuala Lumpur after a tough 10 days of racing.

The final stage, a criterium through the streets of downtown Kuala Lumpur, was on a 6 lap 12.6 km circuit. While there were numerous attempts to get away, including one by Team Canada's Eric Wohlberg and another featuring Mapei's Andrea Tafi, the Colombia-Selle Italia boys kept things closed down and none of the moves featured anyone capable of snatching a last minute overall victory.

Mapei-Quick Step, knowing that the overall was out of reach, set their train in motion in an all-out effort to win the stage. Three of their lead-out men headed the charge to the finish line with Robert Hunter tucked into their slipstream. But with 300 metres to go, everything changed. Graeme Brown, Ceramiche Panaria team, came up strong on the left side and hit the front with a brilliant effort and nobody was able to get past him.

Quotes:

Eric Wohlberg: "I am very happy with how we rode. This race is one of the toughest in and attracts top professional teams in the world. As a national team we earned a lot of respect"

Ryder Hesjedal: " I am extremely pleased with my result in my first stage race of this calibre. The rest of the team worked very hard for me once I became the top Canadian in GC."