Michael and teammate Louis Crosby spent most of today in the breakaway in a tremendous ride in extreme heat.
“We couldn’t wish for anything better,” said Director Spotif, John “Harry” Harris, “The peloton couldn’t bring the breakaway back, and we capitalised on it.”
“The first hill climb felt much harder than a category one, but once Louis got up in the breakaway it gave us options,” said Michael, “I looked for a small group within the last 10km and lined it up for the sprint.”
The stage was won by Japanese vetran, 40-year-old Shinichi Fukushima of the local favourite Terengganu Cycling Team, with a time of 3:50:38, with Michael hot on his wheel.
Louis finished in 11th place just 48 seconds behind the leader.
The much vaunted Genesys Wealth Advisors, did not have a prominent day on the bike, said Harry, with the Australian team allowing the breakaway stretch a eight-minute lead at one point, and doing little work in the peloton to bring it back.
“Michael found a gap and just went for it,” said Harry, “In a way, it is good that we are not in a jersey going into the second stage, because tomorrow we are in for a tough day.”
Like today, tomorrow’s stage has one just KOM category one climb, at the 130km mark, and three sprint premes. “Tomorrow has the biggest hill of the tour – it could be the hardest day,” said Michael. It is the longest stage of the tour covering 202km.
It is going to be a tough six-day tour for PureBlack Racing after the huge effort they put into the Tour of Borneo, which finished just a week ago. “Our bodies are still pretty tired and feeling a bit sluggish, but we will ride into it – it is going to be a massive week,” said Michael.