Here you can find reports of the team World Wide Cycling has sent to Malaysia.
The Village Peddler International Team will participate in several races in
Malaysia.
If you are interested to travel
over the world yourself to participate in an event, Click here to see how.
At first they would only participate in Perlis Open, Pahang Cycling Challenge
and maybe in the Tour of Malaysia. One week before it started we also received
an invitation to take part in Selangor Open. Luckily some riders could change
their flight schedule and Village Peddler was with 4 riders in Selangor Open.
Oktober 6 to 8: Selangor Open
Oktober 10 to 14: Perlis Open
Oktober 16 to 26: Pahang Cycling Challenge
November 5 to 12: Jelayah Malaysia (Tour of Maleisië)
The team that races in Malaysia excists of the following riders:
Nathan Dahlberg, New Zealand, rode the Tour de
France twice, won stages in the tours of Switserland, England and Mexico. This
year he already has 9 victories.
Tim Vincent, New Zealand, mountainbiker with a
lot of road experience. 2nd in Rainbow rage, 3rd in the New Zealand National
Mountainbike Series.
Peep Mikli, Estonia, 1st in Den Dungen, 2nd in
Omloop der Kempen (UCI cat 1.5), currently 45 UCI-points.
Rafael Chyla, Germany, this year 6 victories for
example the G.C. of Port-Elisabeth (Zuid-Afrika).
Craig Thompson, New Zealand, 2nd on the under
23's National Championships of New Zealand in 1999. He will arrive later and
will start in the Perlis Open.
Ulzii-Orshikh, Mongolia, Mongolian Champion, 2nd Asian Games Road Race.
From Malaysia we received the following messages from Nathan Dahlberg:
Oktober 6
We are staying at the Holiday Inn and everything is well organized. The
others have arrived and everybody is feeling fit. The other teams look strong,
the Indonesians, Kazachstan, Russians and of course several Malaysian
teams.
Selangor Open
Oktober 8
Selangor
Open, Shah Alam (Kuala Lumpur), Malaysia.
Dear cycling fans
The first stage of the 2 day Selangar Open began on the morning of the 7th
of October here in Shah Alam with an 11.5km individual time trial. The four
members representing the ‘Village Peddler’ World Wide Cycling team (Peep
Mikili (Estonia), Rafael Chyla (Germany), Tim Vincent and I, Nathan Dahlberg
(both of New Zealand) were all in various states of fatigue after long
flights from New Zealand and Europe, however we are recuperating well with
the normal Asian hospitality.
The Selangar Open is a relatively small warm-up event for the upcoming 4 day
‘Perlis Open’ in Northern Malaysia followed by the 9 day ‘Tour of
Pahang’
later this month so it was a great event to use to begin to attempt to
adjust to the mid 30 degree temperatures and high humidity.
The Open consists of 3 stages, an 11.5 km time trial and a 40 km Circuit
Points Race both on the 7th. On the 8th of October is a 130 km Road Race.
The courses consist of small rolling hills and are contested by six
international and nine local teams, each of 6 riders, (except the time trial
where only three riders from each team rode). The overall classment is for
teams only, quite different from normal procedure which recognises
individuals.
In the time trail, Peep Mikli finished 10th (at +1:13), Rafael Chyla 6th (at +1:03) and
Nathan 7th (at + 1:13) to the strong Russian rider Irator Damir of the
Uzbekistan National Team. All three felt that they started well but then
began to struggle at the halfway mark. Luckily, of the three stages, the
time trial is the least important.
In the mid afternoon heat, the 40 km circuit points race proved much more
exhausting than expected. The locals set a hot pace from the start but it
was to prove a sprinters day. The whole team got behind Rafael, our best
sprinter, and with Tim and Nathan keeping the group together and Peep
leading out, Rafael was able to show his talent by winning all three
sprints to take the overall win. Peep also placed 4th overall behind two
Indonesian riders. Interestingly the time trial specialist and
winner of
stage one, Irator Damir didn’t start the second stage, another rider
filled
his spot but it didn’t help as the Uzbeks were unable to feature.
Tomorrow we have the 130 km circuit race on the circuit used for the
Commonwealth Games in 1998.
Stage
1,Time Trial
1, Irator Damir, Uzbekistan
2, Shahrulnecza Razal, Malaysia
3.
Shkarpeta
Denis, Uzbekistan
6. Rafael Chyla
7. Nathan Dahlberg
10. Peep
Mikli
Stage 2,
40 km points Criterium
1.
rafael Chyla
4. Peep
Mikli
Oktober 9
Day Two, Selangor Open
Hot, hot, hot again. The race distance was shortened to just 105 km, but even
this felt long in the incredible afternoon heat on the rolling course.
The plan was to win the team classment, this being the most important part of
the race. Once again, Tim and I cotrolled the race for our two sprinters
Peep and Rafael, however one of the workers would also have to sprint, as the
team classment was based on the third rider.
The Indonesians were very active on the small climbs, and the Uzbecks also
launched attacks but in the end it was a very strong Robert Tan from Malaysia
who soloed the last 8km to victory.
Peep and Rafael scored a one two in the bunch sprint and with
Me in 7th
the team classment was won. A good days work.
Stage 3, 105 km Road Race
1st Robert Tan (Malaysia)
2nd Peep
3rd Rafael
7th Nathan
Overall Winners: Village Peddlar International.
The winning Village
Peddler International Team at the podium, from left to right; Peep Mikli, Rafael
Chyla, Nathan Dahlberg and Tim Vincent.
Oktober 11
Nathan has had some problems with computers. They crashed down all the time,
hopefully he will find a good one soon to send us more information.
Perlis Open
Oktober 12
Yesterday the Perlis Open started with a mountainbike race. Tim Vincent who
is one of the best New Zealand mountainbikers brought his mountainbike as well.
He won this race and made a perfect start of the Perlis Open for the Village
Peddler International Team.
The road events of the Perlis Open started today with a 50 kilometer time
trial. It was won by an Indonesian rider, 2nd was a Malysian and 3rd an Uzbek.
Nathan got 5th, and Peep 6th.
Oktober 13
Peep Mikli won the road race in closed foto
finish from Indonesian Wan Wan , both he and I were in the final 7 man break , I
pulled sprint for 7 kms and finished 7th - Tim also rode strong all day .
Oktober 14
The final stage of Perlis Open was a 46 kilometer points criterium. We did
one before in Selangor Open so we knew we had a good chance with our fast
sprinters Peep Mikli and Rafael Chyla.
The criterium was very fast, over 45 kilometer average and nobody got away.
This time Peep could gain the most points and won the race, Rafael got second.
No more info - just about to go on 10 hour bus trip to pahang
Read this very amusing
report from Tim Vincent:
Perlis
Open
11-14/10/00
The Perlis Open started with a big banquet and a great demonstration from 'just
across the border' Thais in both modern and traditional dance.
Another first for Village Peddler Worldwide Cycling when Tim Vincent won
the opening Mountain Bike Race. Already the hero of the local girls after
catching one of them when she fainted at the opening ceremony, Tim set about
demolishing the field in the 20 km race.
The 56 starters had to contend with torrential tropical rain, jungle and
mosquitoes as they raced over four laps of the rolling course. Tim extended his
30 second lead after the first lap to win by one and a half minutes, and in the
process became the hero of the local mountain bike boys as well.
Tim Vincent shows how he catches girls as they "faint".
The following mornings 50km Individual Time Trial was won by Tonton Susanto of
Indonesia, widley acclaimed as the best rider in SE Asia. He took almost a
minute out of Malaysian Sahahrulneeza and 2:30 out of Nathan Dahlberg in 5th
place, while averaging almost 48km/hr in hot and windy conditions.
Day 3 was perhaps the main event, the 150km road race. After 15 mins of piano,
the race turned fast and furious, fortunately the overcast conditions were more
cooling than previous days.
With constant atacking, particularly on the part of the Indonesians, 15 riders
eventually escaped, including Tim and Nathan. Later Peep bridged up with 4
others after a long hard chase. The last stages of the race along the sea front
saw a group of seven riders slip away in the cross-winds with Nathan leading
Peep out for the final sprint. Peep had already been 8 times second in races
this year without a victory and the sprint was so close he really didn't know if
he had his seasons first victory or his 9th second place. The judges didn't know
either, it took 30 minutes of studying the photo finish before finally awarding
Peep the victory. Second place went to Indonesian Wanwan Setibudi.
Peep had only just time to celebrate his victory before he got his second in the
Criterium the very next day, ahead of Rafael in second place. Right from the
start the pace was on, and the 47 km were covered in 1 hr and 2 mins. With
Nathan and new team member Craig Thomson leading out and covering breaks, the
two sprinters only had to do what they do best.
Next day was a 13 hr bus trip from hell to Kauntan Pahang where the 10 day tour
of Pahang will start on the 16th.
Pahang Cycling Challenge
Oktober 16
The tour of Pahang is a very tough 10 day race through Malaysia's biggest
state, with long stages, thru steaming tropical jungles, and beside beautiful
beaches.
The Village Peddler International Team arrived well in Pahang for the Cycling
challenge, a ten day stage race. There were some problems because the Team
arranged an extra cyclist, a Team manager and a Mechanic, all three were
Malysian. The commisaires didn't give their permission. Because it is an
International Team they don't accept Malaysian riders or personel. At the last
moment they found another Manager and an extra rider. Ulzii-Orshikh, a mongolian
cyclist completes the team as 6th rider. He is an excellent rider with many good
results. He is the current Mongolian Champion and was 2nd on the Asian Games
this year.
Report received on Oktober 24:
The tour includes 2 timetrials , one individual opening TT of 15km, followed
by a 62km team time trial on the 4th day. However the real decider won't be the
long stages or the heat and timetrials, but the 30km (2000m altitude gain) climb
up to Genting Highlands, surely one of the hardest climbs in the world!!
A truly international team lines up for VP worldwide cycling, including
Ulzii Orshikh out of Mongolia
Peep Mikli out of Estiona
Rafael Chyla out of Germany/Poland
Nathan Dahlberg, Tim Vincent and Craig Tompson all out of New Zealand.
For the last two this will be the longest and hardest race they've ever done
The competition includes Malaysian National team along with 11 other Malaysian
teams , two teams from Uzibekistan, and the Indonesians for a total of 86
starters.
Stage 1.
15km Time Trial.
All aero equipment was banned so the opening time trial was a real race of
truth!
Time trial specialist Iratov Damir still came out on top posting 18 min, 14 sec
(48km/hr average) but this time Peep and Nathan came in 2nd and 3rd (18:35 and
18:43 respectively) as the other Uzbekistan riders without the aero bikes they
used previously came in behind. Rafael also showed good form finishing 6th.
Stage 2.
140km Road Stage to Bundar Jenku.
Although the stage was mainly into a head wind, a fast pace was maintained
through the tropical forest all day. The Uzbekistan riders, who have two teams
in the race, spent all day on the front controlling the race, but in the last
30km, 5 riders broke clear. They were Peep, Nathan, Iratov (the leader) plus
Indonesians Ton Ton and Sulistiyo. Peep was looking very strong but it was
Nathan who jumped away in the last km leaving Peep to win the sprint for a VP
International 1,2. The rest of the field was spread over 7 mins after what
proved to be a very tough opening road stage.
On a Photo with a friendly family, from left to right; Peep Mikli,
Nathan Dahlberg, Tim Vincent, Rafael Chyla and Craig Thompson.
Stage 3.
141km Road Stage to Jerantut.
Despite numerous attacks the bunch arrived intact for a crazy sprint into
Jerantut. Indonesian Matnur Matnur profited from the chaos of the last 500m
which included several tight turns through roadworks, road islands and parked
motorbikes, to win the sprint. VP International failed to place.
Stage 4.
61km Team Time Trial.
Team Time Trials are tough at the best of times, but the course between Jerantut
and Kuala Lipis was a killer with 39 x 23 climbs and hardly an inch of flat. The
Uzbekistan A team showed its strength by taking 1 min 40 sec out of nearest
rivals VP International. The Malaysian National Team were a further 30 seconds
back in third. The Indonesian team of climbers lost a lot of time, nearly 5 mins
to the Uzbecks.
Stage 5.
187km Road Stage to Raub.
The longest stage so far but no-one was slowing down any. The Uzbeck teams
controlled attacks from the start for Irator who now had a 2 min buffer to Peep
and Nathan. After numerous attacks on rolling hills mid-course, Rafael escaped
with a group of 5 and 65km to go. The Uzbecks limited the gap to 2 mins and many
strong attacks in the last 10km saw the group caught by a small group of 10
riders in the last 2km, but not before Rafael had jumped away from it. A move
that earned him the stage win. Craig won the sprint from group behind Raphael
and got second.
Stage 6.
61km Road Stage to Raub.
The shortest road stage of the Tour and the first 20km was ridden at training
pace. Was it an indication of fatigue from the day before or anticipation of the
next day's 'King' stage up to the Genting Highlands? That all changed at the
first sprint prime. The points jersey, previously worn by VP International
riders Nathan and Peep, was now worn by Wan Wan Setibudi. A text-book lead out
from VP International at the first sprint to reclaim the jersey, was no obstacle
for Wan Wan who still beat the VP sprinters and stregthened his grip on the
jersey.
Action really followed with numerous attacks, field splits, a puncture from Peep,
a wheel change with Craig. Finally VP International took contol in the final kms
and Rafael made no mistake to win his second stage in a row from Wan Wan.
Oktober 25
Stage 7.
The King's stage to Genting Highlands has been a incredibly tough one! 39 x
25 for 20 km's!!! (Incredible Mountain!!) I failed to get the yellow jersey. I
did beat every rider in front of me in the GC, but not by enough time... In the
General Classment I am 4th now, three Uzbeks are leading. The difference was
more then 2 minutes before this stage and now 1 min 04. They beat us by 1 min 40
in the Team Time Trial, so it's not hard to find out where we lost it.
I was third on the stage, Ton Ton won.
The team is second (after Uzbeks of course), Raphael has the Sprint jersey,
Peep is 10th, Ullzii 11th in GC.
Tour of Malaysia
Rafael Chyla from
the Village Peddler International Team won the Tour of Malysia!
The Tour of
Malaysia (Jelayah Malaysia) was being held from November 5 to 12. We have only
received bits and pieces of information about the Tour of Malaysia. We hope it
still is interesting.
Nathan Dahlberg: "3
stages so far of tour of malaysia, three wins , and both yellow and green
jerseys , its been an incredible effort actually - the whole team is fit and
fine tuned now - we have been together 5 weeks! Yesterday we rode on front all
stage and I'm really tired."
Stage
5 Criterium at Port Dickson (80 KM).
In
the last 20 kilometers a break-away of 10 riders, with Ulzii and Rafael. With 8
kilometers to go 4 riders attack (with Rafael) and sprint for the stage.
Foto-finish decided that Wawan won, second Rafael.
1. Wawan (Indonesia)
2. Rafael Chyla
3. Musairi (Malaysia)
Stage
6, Individual Time Trial 6,5 kilomters.
1.
Iratov (Uzbekistan)
2.
Peep Mikli
3.
Rafael Chyla
Stage
7, Criterium Batu Pahat 60 kilometers.
1.
Rafael Chyla
2.
Wawan (Indonesia)
3.
Matnur (Indonesia)
19.
Peep Mikli
31.
Ulzii
45.
Craig Thompson
Stage
8 Criterium Melaka 52 kilometers
From
the start there was a break-away of 13 riders with Peep. Peep won the green
sprinter jersey but the team had to work hard to keep Rafael in the leader
jersey. At the end Craig and Azindra got tired, Ulzii had problems because of
crash he had the day before. The last 15 kilometers Rafael was by himself and he
lost 43 seconds. The Village Peddler International Team lost the team
classification. But Rafael made it and won the general classification of the
Tour of Malaysia!
1.
Musairi (Malaysia)
2.
Peep Mikli
3.
Fairuz (Malaysia)
Team
Classification
1.
Indonesia
2.
Village Peddler
3.
Kuala Lumpur
4.
Uzbekistan
5.
Iran
In the "Berita
Harian" newspaper, Suhaimi Keton (Malaysia) en de winnaar van de Tour of
Malysia: Rafael Chyla.
World Wide Cycling 