Gonzalez wins Langkawi; Bongiorno takes final stage
- By Neal Rogers
- Published Feb. 15, 2004
- Updated Feb. 11, 2008 at 9:11 PM UTC
Kuala Lumpur Criterium (80.4km)
For the second consecutive year, Panaria’s Ruben Bongiorno took the field sprint at the Tour de Langkawi’s closing stage, a steamy hot, 60km criterium through Malaysia’s capital city of Kuala Lumpur. With no major changes to the overall classification, Colombia Selle Italia’s Freddy Gonzalez — King of the Mountains at the Giro d’Italia in 2001 and 2003 — took top honors, his biggest win to date.
In the wake of news of Marco Pantani’s death on Saturday, a moment of silence marked the start of the 10-day tour’s final stage. From there on, heavy drums and an enthusiastic crowd greeted riders on each passing at the start/finish area of Dataran Merdeka’s Sultan Abdul Samad Building.
First to peel off the front was Alessandro Cortinovis (Lampre) on lap 2, chased by stage 4 winner Sean Sullivan (Barloworld) and Hector Guerra Garcia (Relax Bodysol). Once together the trio stayed away for half the race, opening a maximum gap of near 40 seconds, but Sullivan punctured on with five to go and was forced to rejoin the peloton.
Cortinovis and Guerra Garcia rolled on, and were joined a lap-and-a-half later by Shinichi Fukushima (Japan) and Eric Wohlberg (Canada). The four kept hope alive, maintaining a solid 30-45 second gap, but with just under two laps remaining Health Net-Maxxis came to the front, eager to make good on its many attempts to win a stage at the Tour; the field was intact by the time it crossed the start/finish on the bell lap.
“At a lap and a half to go I saw the other teams were dying a little bit so I started our train,” said Health Net’s John Lieswyn, who conceded that, like it had on Friday’s sprint finish in Shah Alam, the team once again wound up its sprint a bit early. “I guess I misjudged the distance. I came out of the rotation with 3km to go. I guess it was too far.”
This time the team was riding not for points jersey winner Gord Fraser — who was banged up Saturday before the stage began — but for Fraser’s lead-out man, Kiwi Greg Henderson.
“The guys were asking me early in the stage how I was feeling, and quite honestly, I wasn’t feeling very good,” Fraser said. “I wanted to repay Greg [Henderson] for his work this week, and he said he was feeling good, so it was no problem with the jersey wrapped up.”
But Panaria had different plans. In 2003 Bongiorno won the stage in controversy, after an overzealous lead-out to teammate Graeme Brown. But with Brown was sitting the day out with tendonitis in his Achilles, the team dedicated itself to work for Bongiorno outright Sunday. Last on Panaria’s train was Aussie Brett Lancaster, winner of stage 3 on an impressive solo breakaway.
“Our big guy, Sergey Matviev, is usually in front of me,” Lancaster said, “but he punctured with 2km to go, and I thought the plan was to stay back a bit, not hit the front to early. With about 1km to go I was 25 wheels back but started coming around them all. Then I had the little fella on my wheel and just went past the Health Net train there. I think they were at the front a little early. They still had Henderson there, but I was sort of coming around them – I think I must have caught them by surprise a bit, too – and just sort of went straight around. It was with about 150km to go and Ruben just shot straight off my wheel. It’s just a shame Graeme couldn’t be riding today, because he was having trouble with his Achilles, or we might have run 1-2 like last year.”
The plan, Bongiorno said later, worked “perfectly.” Henderson finished second, with Lampre’s Matteo Carrara third and Formaggi Pinzolo’s Ivan Quaranta fourth.
“I guess when we went a Formaggio guy came past [Health Net’s] Brice [Jones], who was our last guy,” Henderson explained. “Brice did a good job to get to him. He was looking, looking and he went. It was 500m to go and I was perfect. Just I was about to go Brett Lancaster came past, and of course I tried to push in on Brett but ended up tussing handlebars with Bongiorno, and ended up hitting Quaranta, so I jumped on Quaranta’s wheel and managed to get around Quaranta on the line.”
As Fraser was first to admit, second-place was an impressive finish for his lead-out man.
“We experimented a little, trying to pull the whole ‘gap off the sprinter,’ which works in America where it’s a bit more technical,” Fraser said. “We had a plan, but today was a little bit too wide a road to really pull that off. Unfortunately after I gapped Greg off Panaria managed to squeeze through. So it was good timing for them, just a little late for us. Greg got second, which is pretty good for Greg. He’s a sprinter with a huge potential for the future, and I wanted to give him a bit of the responsibility at this race before we left Langkawi.”
Leaving Langkawi with the overall classification (Gonzalez), King of the Mountains jersey (Ruber Marin) and second-place in the team classification – to Barloworld – was the Colombia-Selle Italia squad that led the race from the first stage to the last.
“It is a very important victory for me, and I think this is the biggest victory of my career,” Gonzalez said, adding that his biggest goal in 2004 will be defending his KOM jersey at the Giro d’Italia.
And while the Colombians had reason to celebrate, charismatic Italian team director Gianni Savio dealt with mixed emotions after the race had ended.
“Tonight I am not going out dancing or celebrating, Savio said. “I wish to respect the memory of Marco Pantani. He was a friend, and it is very sad what has happened.”
Photo Gallery
Results
1. Ruben G. Bongiorno (ARG) Ceramiche Panaria – 1:38:06
2. Gregory Henderson (NZl) Health Net
3. Matteo Carrara (I) Lampre
4. Ivan Quaranta (I) Formaggi Pinzolo
5. Marlon Perez (Col) Colombia Selle-Italia
6. Hassan Maleki (IRI) Iran
7. Eugene Moriarty (IRL) Ireland
8. Enrico Grigoli (I) De-Nardi
9. Daryl Impey (RSA) South Africa
10. Gert Vanderaerden (B) Palmans-Collstrop
11. Michel Van Haecke (B) Palmans-Collstrop
12. Javier Florencio Cabre (Sp) Relax Bodysol
13. Nacor Burgos Rojo (Sp) Relax Bodysol
14. Philip Deignan (IRL) Ireland
15. Yoshiyuki Abe (JPN) Japan
16. Charles Dionne (CAN) Canada
17. Michele Gobbi (I) De-Nardi
18. Amir Zargari (IRI) Iran
19. Antonio Rizzi (I) De-Nardi
20. Gordon Fraser (CAN) Health Net
21. Graziano Gasparre (I) De-Nardi
22. Freddy Gonzalez (Col) Colombia Selle-Italia
23. Devis Miorin (I) De-Nardi
24. Matnur Matnur (INA) Wismilak
25. Brett Lancaster (Aus) Ceramiche Panaria
26. Nicholas White (RSA) South Africa
27. Ryan Cox (RSA) Team Barloworld
28. Rosli Nor Affendy (MAS) Malaysia
29. Huberlino Mesa Estapa (Col) Colombia Selle-Italia
30. Neil Mcdonald (RSA) South Africa
31. Dave Bruylandts (B) Chocolade Jacques
32. Tiaan Kannemeyer (RSA) Team Barloworld
33. Xiaojun Shao (CHN) China
34. Ruber Marin (Col) Colombia Selle-Italia
35. Brice Jones (USA) Health Net
36. David Mccann (IRL) Ireland
37. Garcia Oscar Laguna (Sp) Relax Bodysol
38. Eric Wohlberg (CAN) Canada
39. Ian Mcleod (RSA) South Africa
40. Kurt Van De Wouwer (B) Palmans-Collstrop
41. Tanha Abbas Saeidi (IRI) Iran
42. Wladimir Belli (I) Lampre
43. Luis F. Laverde Jimenez (Col) Formaggi Pinzolo
44. Germ Van Der Burg (Nl) Bert Story-Piels
45. Jurgen Van De Walle (B) Chocolade Jacques
46. Frederic Gabriel (F) Palmans-Collstrop
47. Jeremy Hunt (GB) Palmans-Collstrop
48. Hector Guerra Garcia (Sp) Relax Bodysol
49. Santiago Blanco Gil (Sp) Relax Bodysol
50. Johan Van Summeren (B) Relax Bodysol
51. Fortunato Baliani (I) Ceramiche Panaria
52. Razali Shahrulneeza (MAS) Malaysia
53. Luciano Pagliarini (BRA) Lampre
54. Zbigniew Piatek (Pol) Chocolade Jacques
55. Peter Wuyts (B) Palmans-Collstrop, all same time
56. Mario Manzoni (I) Formaggi Pinzolo, at 0:14
57. David George (RSA) Team Barloworld, at 0:20
58. Mohd Zahit Mohd Sayuti (MAS) Malaysia, at 0:21
59. Roland Green (CAN) Canada, at 0:21
60. Michele Scotto D’Abusco (I) Lampre, at 0:23
61. Alexandre Lavallee (CAN) Canada, at 0:23
62. Albert Primero (PHI) PCF, at 0:25
63. Ben Day (Aus) Palmans-Collstrop, at 0:25
64. Mauricio Ardila (Col) Chocolade Jacques, at 0:25
65. Trent Wilson (Aus) Colombia Selle-Italia, at 0:25
66. Musa Musairi (MAS) Malaysia, at 0:25
67. Moises Duenas Nevado (Sp) Relax Bodysol, at 0:25
68. Marco Pinotti (I) Lampre, at 0:25
69. Sama’I Sama’I (INA) Wismilak, at 0:25
70. Dominique Perras (CAN) Canada, at 0:25
71. John Lieswyn (USA) Health Net, at 0:25
72. Coen Loos (Nl) Bert Story-Piels, at 0:25
73. Lloyd Lucien Reynante (PHI) PCF, at 0:25
74. Arne Kornegoor (Nl) Bert Story-Piels, at 0:25
75. Sergio Barbero (I) Lampre, at 0:25
76. Susanto Tonton (INA) Wismilak, at 0:25
77. Jasper Lenferink (Nl) Bert Story-Piels, at 0:25
78. Yasutaka Tashiro (JPN) Japan, at 0:25
79. Denis Lynch (IRL) Ireland, at 0:25
80. Corrado Serina (I) Formaggi Pinzolo, at 0:25
81. Shinichi Fukushima (JPN) Japan, at 0:25
82. Alessandro Cortinovis (I) Lampre, at 0:25
83. David O’Loughlin (IRL) Ireland, at 0:25
84. Ismail Mohd Sazlee (MAS) Malaysia, at 0:25
85. Paul Griffin (IRL) Ireland, at 0:25
86. Rafael Nuritdinov (UZB) De-Nardi, at 0:25
87. Andoni Aranaga (Sp) Chocolade Jacques, at 0:25
88. Alejandro Alberto Borrajo (ARG) Ceramiche Panaria, at 0:25
89. Ghader Mizbani (IRI) Iran, at 0:25
90. Victor Espiritu (PHI) PCF, at 0:25
91. Sergiy Matveiev (Ukr) Ceramiche Panaria, at 0:25
92. Ronald Gorantes (PHI) PCF, at 0:25
93. Makoto Iijima (JPN) Japan, at 0:25
94. Jan Van Velzen (Nl) Chocolade Jacques, at 0:25
95. Ahad Kazemi (IRI) Iran, at 0:25
96. Peter Wedge (CAN) Canada, at 0:25
97. Wawan Setyobudi (INA) Wismilak, at 0:25
98. Jeremy Maartens (RSA) South Africa, at 0:25
99. Jaco Odenaal (RSA) South Africa, at 0:25
100. Michael Sayers (USA) Health Net, at 0:40
101. Scott Moninger (USA) Health Net, at 0:44
102. Kazuyuki Manabe (JPN) Japan, at 0:47
103. Alfie Catalan (PHI) PCF, at 0:50
104. Xueli Jiang (CHN) China, at 0:50
105. Rhyan Tanguilig (PHI) PCF, at 0:50
106. Jans Koerts (Nl) Chocolade Jacques, at 0:50
107. Danny Pate (USA) Health Net, at 01:23
108. Merculio Ramos (PHI) PCF, at 01:37
109. Ano Pedersen (Nl) Wismilak, at 01:37
110. Guozhang Wang (CHN) China, at 01:54
111. Sean Sullivan (Aus) Team Barloworld, at 02:06
112. Reinhardt Duplessis (RSA) South Africa, at 02:13
113. Jianshi Luo (CHN) China, at 02:13
114. Domenico Gualdi (I) Formaggi Pinzolo, at 02:13
115. Jock Green (RSA) Team Barloworld, at 02:50
116. Russel Van Hout (Aus) Colombia Selle-Italia, at 02:50
117. Scott Guyton (NZl) Wismilak, at 02:50
118. Giulini Sulpizi (I) Formaggi Pinzolo, at 03:10
119. Matteo Cappe (I) Formaggi Pinzolo, at 03:10
120. Cory Lange (CAN) Canada, at 03:33
121. Enrico Degano (I) Team Barloworld, at 04:00
Final Overall Standings
1. Freddy Gonzalez (Col) Colombia Selle-Italia – 28:52:52
2. Ryan Cox (RSA) Team Barloworld, at 0:48
3. Dave Bruylandts (B) Chocolade Jacques, at 01:54
4. Tiaan Kannemeyer (RSA) Team Barloworld, at 01:55
5. Nicholas White (RSA) South Africa, at 02:12
6. Ruber Marin (Col) Colombia Selle-Italia, at 02:22
7. Marlon Perez (Col) Colombia Selle-Italia, at 02:30
8. David George (RSA) Team Barloworld, at 02:31
9. Kurt Van De Wouwer (B) Palmans-Collstrop, at 04:06
10. Roland Green (CAN) Canada, at 04:06
11. Ghader Mizbani (IRI) Iran, at 04:27
12. Javier Florencio Cabre (Sp) Relax Bodysol, at 04:54
13. Wladimir Belli (I) Lampre, at 05:02
14. David Mccann (IRL) Ireland, at 05:15
15. Santiago Blanco Gil (Sp) Relax Bodysol, at 06:51
16. Philip Deignan (IRL) Ireland, at 06:54
17. Eric Wohlberg (CAN) Canada, at 06:57
18. Antonio Rizzi (I) De-Nardi, at 07:12
19. Fortunato Baliani (I) Ceramiche Panaria, at 07:43
20. Jurgen Van De Walle (B) Chocolade Jacques, at 08:02
21. Johan Van Summeren (B) Relax Bodysol, at 08:06
22. Ahad Kazemi (IRI) Iran, at 08:16
23. John Lieswyn (USA) Health Net, at 09:18
24. Sergio Barbero (I) Lampre, at 09:24
25. Hector Guerra Garcia (Sp) Relax Bodysol, at 09:37
26. Michele Scotto D’Abusco (I) Lampre, at 09:51
27. Susanto Tonton (INA) Wismilak, at 10:16
28. Luis F. Laverde Jimenez (Col) Formaggi Pinzolo, at 11:07
29. Ian Mcleod (RSA) South Africa, at 11:40
30. Yasutaka Tashiro (JPN) Japan, at 13:34
31. Moises Duenas Nevado (Sp) Relax Bodysol, at 14:05
32. Huberlino Mesa Estapa (Col) Colombia Selle-Italia, at 14:10
33. Nacor Burgos Rojo (Sp) Relax Bodysol, at 14:48
34. Michele Gobbi (I) De-Nardi, at 15:53
35. Razali Shahrulneeza (MAS) Malaysia, at 16:38
36. Garcia Oscar Laguna (Sp) Relax Bodysol, at 17:12
37. Xueli Jiang (CHN) China, at 18:09
38. Alejandro Alberto Borrajo (ARG) Ceramiche Panaria, at 18:46
39. Zbigniew Piatek (Pol) Chocolade Jacques, at 19:06
40. Jock Green (RSA) Team Barloworld, at 19:27
41. Jan Van Velzen (Nl) Chocolade Jacques, at 19:35
42. Frederic Gabriel (F) Palmans-Collstrop, at 19:57
43. Xiaojun Shao (CHN) China, at 20:07
44. Rhyan Tanguilig (PHI) PCF, at 20:23
45. Charles Dionne (CAN) Canada, at 20:26
46. Alessandro Cortinovis (I) Lampre, at 21:32
47. Lloyd Lucien Reynante (PHI) PCF, at 21:37
48. Shinichi Fukushima (JPN) Japan, at 21:39
49. Michel Van Haecke (B) Palmans-Collstrop, at 22:38
50. Sean Sullivan (Aus) Team Barloworld, at 23:38
51. Graziano Gasparre (I) De-Nardi, at 23:49
52. Matteo Carrara (I) Lampre, at 24:12
53. Devis Miorin (I) De-Nardi, at 24:58
54. Jaco Odenaal (RSA) South Africa, at 25:44
55. Marco Pinotti (I) Lampre, at 26:12
56. Paul Griffin (IRL) Ireland, at 26:13
57. Victor Espiritu (PHI) PCF, at 26:16
58. Amir Zargari (IRI) Iran, at 29:16
59. Reinhardt Duplessis (RSA) South Africa, at 30:01
60. Peter Wedge (CAN) Canada, at 30:50
61. Tanha Abbas Saeidi (IRI) Iran, at 31:47
62. Denis Lynch (IRL) Ireland, at 32:50
63. Yoshiyuki Abe (JPN) Japan, at 32:54
64. Gordon Fraser (CAN) Health Net, at 33:06
65. Guozhang Wang (CHN) China, at 33:36
66. Danny Pate (USA) Health Net, at 33:41
67. Matteo Cappe (I) Formaggi Pinzolo, at 33:51
68. David O’Loughlin (IRL) Ireland, at 34:04
69. Mauricio Ardila (Col) Chocolade Jacques, at 34:27
70. Mohd Zahit Mohd Sayuti (MAS) Malaysia, at 35:37
71. Makoto Iijima (JPN) Japan, at 36:04
72. Ronald Gorantes (PHI) PCF, at 36:25
73. Jeremy Maartens (RSA) South Africa, at 37:19
74. Ben Day (Aus) Palmans-Collstrop, at 37:38
75. Rosli Nor Affendy (MAS) Malaysia, at 38:19
76. Scott Moninger (USA) Health Net, at 38:54
77. Coen Loos (Nl) Bert Story-Piels, at 39:49
78. Neil Mcdonald (RSA) South Africa, at 39:58
79. Daryl Impey (RSA) South Africa, at 40:08
80. Jeremy Hunt (GB) Palmans-Collstrop, at 40:31
81. Brett Lancaster (Aus) Ceramiche Panaria, at 41:05
82. Gert Vanderaerden (B) Palmans-Collstrop, at 41:19
83. Jasper Lenferink (Nl) Bert Story-Piels, at 41:24
84. Dominique Perras (CAN) Canada, at 41:49
85. Andoni Aranaga (Sp) Chocolade Jacques, at 41:50
86. Enrico Degano (I) Team Barloworld, at 41:54
87. Luciano Pagliarini (BRA) Lampre, at 42:41
88. Albert Primero (PHI) PCF, at 42:45
89. Mario Manzoni (I) Formaggi Pinzolo, at 43:01
90. Corrado Serina (I) Formaggi Pinzolo, at 43:58
91. Jianshi Luo (CHN) China, at 44:08
92. Cory Lange (CAN) Canada, at 45:37
93. Matnur Matnur (INA) Wismilak, at 45:49
94. Germ Van Der Burg (Nl) Bert Story-Piels, at 45:57
95. Peter Wuyts (B) Palmans-Collstrop, at 45:58
96. Merculio Ramos (PHI) PCF, at 46:00
97. Rafael Nuritdinov (UZB) De-Nardi, at 46:20
98. Brice Jones (USA) Health Net, at 46:57
99. Musa Musairi (MAS) Malaysia, at 47:39
100. Michael Sayers (USA) Health Net, at 48:29
101. Eugene Moriarty (IRL) Ireland, at 48:42
102. Alexandre Lavallee (CAN) Canada, at 48:44
103. Ismail Mohd Sazlee (MAS) Malaysia, at 49:49
104. Jans Koerts (Nl) Chocolade Jacques, at 50:32
105. Enrico Grigoli (I) De-Nardi, at 50:44
106. Sergiy Matveiev (Ukr) Ceramiche Panaria, at 51:22
107. Arne Kornegoor (Nl) Bert Story-Piels, at 51:28
108. Ivan Quaranta (I) Formaggi Pinzolo, at 52:10
109. Wawan Setyobudi (INA) Wismilak, at 52:24
110. Kazuyuki Manabe (JPN) Japan, at 53:01
111. Hassan Maleki (IRI) Iran, at 53:57
112. Gregory Henderson (NZl) Health Net, at 53:58
113. Russel Van Hout (Aus) Colombia Selle-Italia, at 54:15
114. Trent Wilson (Aus) Colombia Selle-Italia, at 56:18
115. Giulini Sulpizi (I) Formaggi Pinzolo, at 56:29
116. Domenico Gualdi (I) Formaggi Pinzolo, at 56:32
117. Sama’I Sama’I (INA) Wismilak, at 57:24
118. Ano Pedersen (Nl) Wismilak, at 1:00:51
119. Alfie Catalan (PHI) PCF, at 1:01:24
120. Scott Guyton (NZl) Wismilak, at 1:07:07
121. Ruben G. Bongiorno (ARG) Ceramiche Panaria, at 1:09:47
FILED UNDER: Race Report / Race Result / Road
Neal Rogers
An interest in all things rock 'n' roll led Neal into music journalism while attending UC Santa Cruz. After several post-grad years spent waiting tables, surfing and mountain biking, Neal moved to San Francisco, working stints as a bike messenger and at a software start-up. He moved to Colorado in 2001, taking an editorial internship at VeloNews. He never left, and is now Velo's editor in chief. When not traveling the world covering races, Neal can be found riding his bike, skiing, cooking, or attending a concert. Follow him on Twitter at @nealrogers.