Italian Mori powers into lead

17/08/2002

ITALIAN Simone Mori of Team Jura Suisse Nippon ripped the Red Jersey off
the back of Team Down Under's Glen Chadwick after a knee-cap busting climb
up Gunung Raya in Stage Three of the Gamuda Eagle Tour in Langkwi
yesterday.
Mori was all alone crossing the finish line in one hour 48 minutes and
41 seconds and almost one minute later, Iranian Ghader Mizbani came into
sight and crossed in 1:49:33.
Stage Three, 69.5km in all, ended at the peak of Gunung Raya which
stands at 830 metres. The climb took its toll on all the riders as some of
them collapsed just after the finish.
While Mori found the climb gruelling, Ghader said it was easier than the
climb up Genting Highlands.
Mori, who leads overall with 5:11:19, is just 42 seconds ahead of Ghader
with another 10 riders close on their heels.
The Red Jersey might just change backs again today.
"I started my attack one kilometre after the start because yesterday
(Thursday) we had a team meeting and decided that if we wait till the foot
of Gunung Raya, it would be too late to win anything," said Mori.
Mori felt the climb was more gruelling than he had anticipated but
pushed on when, two kilometres from the finish he looked back and saw
Ghader.
"I knew then that, even though the hot weather and the gruelling climb
was killing me, I could not afford to let up because Ghader is a strong
rider," said Mori.
Orshikh Ulzii of Mongolia, who suffered a terrible fall just 200m from
the finish on Thursday, retained his `King of The Mountain' jersey even
though he couldn't sleep the whole night.
Ulzii, with his cheeks bruised and swollen, smiled on the podium and
said the pain is nothing compared to retaining his jersey. "I couldn't
sleep all night because the pain was unbearable. It was still there when I
started Stage Three but now, after my win, I no longer feel it anymore,"
said Ulzii.
Philip Deignan was another out to prove his worth and the Irish rider
did splendidly by finishing fourth in Stage Three and was crowned the
overall leader and Stage Three winner in the under-23 category.
His team-mates call him the `super-sub' because he was a last minute
inclusion in the Irish National Team.
"I was a last-minute replacement for a team-mate who broke his
collarbone in training before coming to Malaysia. I took up the challenge
and rode the race f my life to finish fourth in Stage Three for the under-
23 stage and overall lead," said the lanky teenager.
The Irish National Team lead the stage classification with a time of
5:32:24. They are followed closely by the Iran team (5:33:11) who are
preparing for the Asian Games in Busan. STAGE 3 RESULTS
Stage 3: 1 Simone Mori (Jura Suisse-JUR) 1 hour 48 minutes 41 seconds; 2
Ghader Mizbani (Iri) 1:49:33s; 3 Tonton Susanto (Indon) 1:49:54s; 4 Philip
Deignan (Irl) 1:50:16s; 5 Paul Griffin (Irl) 1:50:17s; 6 Joachim Vollmann
(Aut) 1:50:17s; 7 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) 1:50:20s; 8 Glen Chadwick (Team Down
Under-TDU) 1:50:24s; 9 Andreas Knapp (Aut) 1:50:25s; 10 Ahad Kazemi (Giant
Asia Racing Team-GNT) 1:51:05s.
Overall Standings: 1 Simone Mori (Jur) 5:11:19s; 2 Ghader Mizbani (IRI)
5:12:00s; 3 Glen Chadwick (TDU) 5:12:35s; 4 Tonton Susanto (Indon)
5:12:44s; 5 Paul Griffin (Irl) 5:13:00s; 6 Andreas Knapp (Aut) 5:13:07s; 7
Tomoya Kano (Jpn) 5:13:09s; 8 Joachim Vollmann (Aut) 5:13:35s; 9 Philip
Deignan (Irl) 5:13:35s; 10 Gabriel Rasch (Krone-KRO) 5:13:55s.
King of the Sprints: 1 Ghader Mizbani (Iri) 25 points; 2 Glen Chadwick
(Tdu) 23; 3 Tommy Evans (Irl) 23.
King of the Mountains: 1 Ghader Mizbani (Iri) 18; 2 Simone Mori (Jur)
16; 3 Jamsran Ulzii Orshikh (GNT) 10.
Team General Classification: 1 Ireland 15:40:30s; 2 Iran 15:41:05s; 3
Austria 15:41:40s
Under-23 Overall Standings: 1 Philip Deignan (Irl) 5:13:35s; 2 Suhardi
Hassan (Mas) 5:14:24s; 3 Josef Benetseder (Aut) 5:15:38s
(END)