Serpa wins 2012 Tour de Langkawi, Guardini grabs sixth sprint victory
Video of final sprint finish in Malaysian race now addedColombian rider José Serpa today took his second Tour de Langkawi title, winning the 2.HC race for the second time since his 2009 triumph. The Androni Giocattoli – Venezuela rider finished safely in the main bunch, protecting his overnight lead, while the Italian sprinter Andrea Guardini powered to his sixth stage win of the race and an incredible eleven in two years. Guardini’s Farnese Vini – Selle Italia team rode well for their leader, hauling back the day’s breakaways in order to ensure a big gallop. Astana captain Alexandre Vinokourov tried to clip away for the stage, but was reeled in before the final sprint. There, Guardini beat Jacobe Keough (United Healthcare), Sonny Colbrelli (Colnago CSF Inox) plus the others to the line in Kuala Terengganu, also the finishing location for yesterday’s ninth stage. Like last year, when he took his [...]
Video: Garmin-Barracuda not giving up on goal of beating Guardini
Squad wants to win final stage of Tour de LangkawiAndrea Guardini has the distinction of having won every stage of this year’s Tour de Langkawi which has come down to a bunch sprint; of the nine stages thus far, there have been two hilly or mountain legs – stages five and six - which broke things up, a time trial, and alos a seventh stage which saw a break stay clear until the end. Other than that, the Italian has dominated and shown little sign of any weakness. That’s psychologically tough on the other teams, who each came with an ambition of winning at least a stage, but who have had little look-in. Garmin Barracuda has of course already taken one; the American ProTeam outfit was best in the stage one time trial via the speed of Dave Zabriskie, and led the race until Darren Lapthorne (Drapac Cycling) took over [...]
Video: Recordman Guardini sets sights on Milan-Sanremo
Bright future in store for rapid Farnese Vini competitorOn a day when he set the all-time record for stage wins at the Tour de Langkawi, exceeding Graeme Brown’s previous mark of nine victories by one, Andrea Guardini has spoken of his future ambitions and confirmed that Milan-Sanremo is a major target of his. The Italian sprinter will ride the race this year, although he sees it more as an opportunity to learn rather than being a realistic target this time round. “[After Malaysia] I will go to Italy for one week to relax and to prepare for Milan-Sanremo, because it is my first very important race,” he told VeloNation today in a video interview conducted prior to the start of the stage. “I will go in Milan-Sanremo for teaching [me] about that. “For the moment it is very difficult for me to try to win, but in a few years [...]
Video: Nathan Haas hopes Garmin Barracuda can ‘cause some trouble’
With one team captain, Tom Danielson, out of the race and another suffering a sudden drop in form – Dave Zabriskie – the Garmin Barracuda team has a very different look than it had earlier this week. It came to the Tour de Langkawi to try to take the overall classification and started off brilliantly when Zabriskie won the opening time trial and Danielson picked up fourth. Danielson was perfectly poised going into the Genting Highlands stage, sitting second overall, but cracked and lost a lot of time. He said afterwards that a leg infection caused by his crash last Sunday was the reason, and he was a non starter yesterday. Nathan Haas had been riding for Garmin Barracuda’s GC guys, and now finds himself with a bit more freedom. Speaking to VeloNation while sitting in the back of the team van at the summit of Genting, he talked about [...]
Video: Forster talks stage-winning goal at Tour de Langkawi
German sprinter guiding young US talent KeoughThree stages remain in the Tour of Qatar and with bunch sprints expected for each of those, the United Healthcare team will go all out to try to make the most of those opportunities. Speaking to VeloNation earlier in the race, German sprinter Robert Forster made it clear what the riders wanted to achieve prior to the end of the 2.HC event. “The main goal is to win a stage with one of us,” he said in the video interview below. With time running out, the pressure is mounting. Forster is one of the team’s big sprinters, a rider who has won a number of big races including a stage of the Vuelta a Espana. The other is the young American Jacobe Keough. There’s an eight year age gap between them and a huge difference in terms of experience; as the German explains, one [...]
Video: Beamon says Craig Lewis is back on track
Encouraged by rides by Lewis, Butler, and Champion System teamHaving broken his femur last June and undergone a complex bone graft operation in December, Craig Lewis’ showing at the Tour de Langkawi has been given a thumbs up by his team manager Ed Beamon. The 27 year old American rider has had a very disrupted training schedule since his Giro d’Italia crash, yet placed fifteenth in the opening time trial last Friday and was a solid 22nd on yesterday’s Genting Highlands stage. That saw him end the day fifteenth overall in the 2.HC-ranked race. Given that he can be expected to make further improvements as his limb strengthens and he clocks up more racing miles, a strong season could be in store. “I’m really, really happy with Craig’s ride. It was a big test for him,” Beamon told VeloNation during a video interview yesterday. “I think he did a solid [...]