Having said yesterday that he had perhaps his best pre-season preparation ever, Dave Zabriskie showed his condition today with a dominant victory on stage one of the Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia.
The Garmin Barracuda rider clocked up his first win since taking the US time trial championship on May 28th last year, being clearly quickest in the opening 20.3 kilometre time trial in Putrajaya. He beat Drapac Cycling’s Adam Phelan by one minute, with the latter’s team-mate Darren Lapthorne a further ten seconds behind.
Despite using his road bike with tri-bars, as per race rules, he averaged an impressive 49.5 kilometres per hour.
“I didn’t really have any confirmation of how my time was until the whole thing was over,” said a delighted Zabriskie at the post-race press conference near the finish line. “This is great.”
Speaking to VeloNation in an at-times zany video interview yesterday, the 33 year old had made it clear what the team’s targets were in Malaysia.
“The goal is to win the race,” he said. “I think Tommy D [2003 race winner Tom Danielson – ed.] is getting pretty excited about the little hills they have here, the Genting Highlands. I am excited about the time trial, and I think we have a couple of guys who can get up there in the sprints. We should be competitive here.”
That proved to be the case today, with Danielson taking fourth, one minute 17 seconds back and neo-pro Nathan Haas a further 23 seconds behind in ninth. It beat Drapac to the day’s best team award by one minute and ten seconds.
With today’s stage and day six’s race to Genting Highlands being the likely crucial GC deciders in an otherwise mainly flat race – although big breaks will remain dangerous on the other days – Danielson’s target was to boost his chances of winning the race overall by taking as much time as possible out of his rivals today.
That goal was a successful one, even if he finished just one place and nine seconds ahead of the 2009 race winner, José Rujano, who pulled out a superb performance. Danielson gained a considerable advantage over the other four previous winners of the race, with Jose Serpa and Jonnattha Mosalve (both Androni Giocattloli – Venezuela) conceding one minute six seconds and one minute twenty respectively, and Freddy Gonzalez (Azad University Cross team) plus Anthony Charteau (Europcar) dropping over two.
Also dropping time was Astana captain Alexander Vinokourov, billed yesterday at the teams’ presentation as one of the big favourites, but clearly still building form after his big crash in last year’s Tour de France. He was 40th, two minutes 41 seconds behind Zabriskie, with seventh-placed Dmitriy Gruzdev best of the Astana riders.
New start format for 2.HC race:
In contrast to the usual opening road race stage, today’s starter had the riders square up in a flat, fast 20.3 kilometre time trial run off in humid conditions. The test started and finished in Putrajaya, a planned city 25 kilometres outside Kuala Lumpur, which acts as the federal administrative centre of Malaysia.
There were spectators but less than the large crowds normally seen at stage finishes.
Roman Van Uden (New Zealand) was first rider to start, tearing down the start ramp at 9am and posting a time of 26 minutes 46 seconds. This would be good enough for an eventual nineteenth place on the stage.
Lapthorne started ten minutes after Van Uden and went one minute and two seconds quicker.
Just under twenty two minutes later his Drapac team-mate Phelan improved that mark by ten seconds, and held the virtual lead right until the time when Zabriskie motored in. The American ended the day well clear and his advantage is such that he isn’t ruling out fighthing for the overall on the Genting Highlands climb.
“I think I’m climbing a lot better than I was last year,” he said, when asked if his advantage was enough to stave off the pure climbers on those slopes. He’ll find out in five day’s time but, until then, the sprinters will seek to play their part and should control the race.
Tomorrow’s stage sees the riders cover 151 kilometres from Putrajaya to Melaka. After a massive thunderstorm three hours after today’s stage finish, it’s possible that the atmosphere will be slightly less humid. The action is likely to be heated, though, with the many teams in the race chasing a win.
Tour de Langkawi (2.HC) stage 1, Putrajaya time trial:
1, David Zabriskie (Garmin-Barracuda) 20.3 kilometres in 24 mins 34 secs
2, Adam Phelan (Drapac) at 1 min
3, Darren Lapthorne (Drapac) at 1 min 11 secs
4, Tom Danielson (Garmin-Barracuda) at 1 min 17 secs
5, José Rujano Guillen (Androni Giocattoli) at 1 min 27 secs
6, Joseph Cooper (New Zealand) at 1 min 31 secs
7, Dmitriy Gruzdev (Astana Pro Team) at 1 min 34 secs
8, Alexsandr Dyachenko (Astana Pro Team) at 1 min 39 secz
9, Nathan Haas (Garmin-Barracuda) at 1 min 40 secs
10, Behnam Khalilikhosroshahi (Tabriz Petrochemical Team) at 1 min 47 secs
Longer results to follow