Belkin had hoped to sprint for the win in toda'y's first stage of the Tour de Langkawi but also wanted to show their rivals that they are not intent on doing all the chase work all week. As a result, the breakaway stayed away and Theo Bos lost his first sprint opportunity.
The Belkin Pro Cycling Team lost a chance to sprint with Theo Bos in the first stage of the Tour de Langkawi today. Colombian Duber Quintero (Team Colombia) won from an escape group that gambled for the win.
"Today you saw that the gamble paid off," Bos said while cooling down under the Langkawi sun. "The other teams know we are not going to control every stage."
The four-man escape arrived to the finish. 1.18 minutes behind, the bunch sprinted for fifth place.
Belkin rode on the front with Rick Flens but let the other teams take responsibility. Astana and YellowFluo took the reins but it was too little too late.
"It's difficult, you have six riders and you're racing in 35°," Sports Director, Michiel Elijzen said. "We could've pulled all day but we don't want the weight on our shoulders for the next nine days. You'd be blown after four days."
"With such a short stage, you have to think fast," Bos added. "In a longer stage, 200 to 250 kilometres, you have that lull to calculate how hard you need to work."
Bos wiped the island salt and sweat off his face. He looked over to the podium where the Colombian took the race leader's yellow jersey.
"Sometimes in cycling it's good to see the escape stay clear. It's a game isn't it? And sometimes you lose. It's not a bad day though, we have nine more stages."
Day two’s stage travels on mainland Malaysia from Sg. Petani to Taiping, north of Kuala Lumpur. The peloton will cover 132.5 kilometres. If all goes well, the Belkin train will head into town with Jack Bobridge, Dennis van Winden, Graeme Brown and Bos.
"Tomorrow the Colombian team will try to hold the lead, which works in our advantage. For a smaller team, they'll be happy with the publicity," said Elijzen. "We will wait for the sprint."
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