Nirwana Gardens Resort, November 8th, 2013
Photos used online please credit: Jennifer Carruthers.
For full results online, click here.
Anza Cycling’s Pierre-Alain Scherwey blitzes the 12km time-trial to take the box seat with a 17 second lead over Taylor Price (Specialized) and Bastian Dohling (Confero Mavericks).
The 2013 Tour de Bintan has officially kicked off with the 12km prologue, riders battled torrential downpour during the prologue, yet the two fastest times were both quicker than the 2012 edition held in perfect, sunny, dry conditions.
Pierre-Alain Scherwey finished with a phenomenal time of 16.14 and 17 seconds clear of second placed Taylor Price (Specialized). Bastian Dohling, winner of Tour of Matabungkay last month, posted a 16.44 time just ahead of Tjaco Cuppens (Lapierre Asia) and Fred Clatworthy (DirectAsia.com).
With the two biggest teams, Specialized Confero Mavericks and DirectAsia.com only taking third and fifth fastest times, it is going to provide for some interesting racing for stage one’s 150km which features never-ending rolling hills lined with thousands of local spectators. It will be a challenging day for riders as the big teams attempt to assert their dominance and try to win back valuable time lost in the opening prologue. Going on the history of the general classification, it is usually the riders in the top spots on the first day that determine the overall classification. However, with riders from smaller teams filling the top two spots, there is ample motivation for the race to be blown wide open by the teams with numbers at their disposal.
In the women’s category, Tina Haugbro took a two second win over Rebecca Mackey. Specialized Confero Mavericks rider, Veronique Florizoone was a distant third, 32 seconds off the pace. This result sets Haugbro in a position where she could challenge for the 2013 women’s title. The parcours of the Bintan race usually sees the peloton contesting the final sprint, which favors the powerful Haugbro.
Stay tuned for further action here at Tour de Bintan. For more information on this race, visit the official website – Tour de Bintan. For more info about Stage 1 click here.
