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WITH 14 riders from Terengganu in the peloton rushing to the finish of Stage Four from Kota Baru to Kuala Terengganu yesterday, there just had to be the first Malaysian stage winner in this edition of the Jelajah Malaysia.
And after multiple prospects coming to the fore in an immensely aggressive stage under scorching coastal heat, the longest attack was cancelled out just five kilometres from the finish line, and the bunch sprint provided just the opportunity for Anuar Manan to bag his first victory of the year.
Anuar, 23, delivered Iranian outfit Azad University's second consecutive victory in this race, after teammate Hossein Nateghi bagged the previous stage from Grik to Tanah Merah, when he surged ahead of Doha Team's Tunisian World Cycling Centre (WCC) graduate Rafai Chtioui and Polygon-Sweet Nice's Russian Sergey Kudentsov to hit the finish to rapturous celebrations around the Kuala Terengganu town centre.
"Today (yesterday), I had targeted the win from the start. It is extra special since this is my hometown and I have so many supporters here," said Anuar.
The win didn't come easy as a group of 12 riders which included national riders Ahmad Fallanie Ali and Rauf Nor Misbah, Terengganu-Toshiba-Bikelabz's find of the season Saufi Mat Senan and Armed Forces' Nor Rizuan Zainal headed away probing for a runaway victory 30 kilometres into the 177.5 kilometre stage.
Four riders, including Saufi and Le Tua's Samai Amari, were dropped from that group after the third intermediate sprint at the 157-kilometre point, and eight soldiered on before a breakaway four with Nor Rizuan, Jazysport-Beacon's Irish Valenzuela and Sherwin Carrera and Savings & Loans' David Pell asked the final questions in a last ditch attempt before being gobbled up by a surging peloton led by the Azad University team.
"It was a difficult day. The breakaway had built up an over six minutes advantage by the 100km point, so my team had to work at bringing back the group. It was hard in the final kilometres, but then when we caught the breakaway, I just prepared to get the win," said Anuar, last year's points classification winner.
Tabriz Petrochemical's Mehdi Sohrabi kept the overall lead in the race and is tied on 15 points in the points classification with Anuar.
The stage without a single categorised climb also meant Azad University kept the polka dot jersey on the back of Abbas Saeditanha, while the Malaysian riders' jersey remained intact with Suhardi Hassan.
The Jelajah Malaysia heads into Stage Five today, which at 204.8km is the longest this yearbut offers another flat stage and the opportunity for Anuar to register back-to-back wins should it finish in a bunch sprint.
Source from:
ARNAZ M. KHAIRUL
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/Sport/2538845/Article/index_html
