Cycling Pro Road & Mtb

Cycling Pro: Cold, wind and rain batter Team Type 1 - sanofi-aventis on Stage 4 of the Tour de Korea

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Parent Category: Cycling Pro Road & Mtb

Category: News Cycling Pro Road & Mtb 2011

Published on Monday, 18 April 2011 19:44

Written by Luca Salvatelli

Team Type 1 - sanofi-aventis was unscathed in the crash-filled stage four at the Tour de Korea on Monday, braving cold rain and crosswinds to head north over 137km for a sprint finish that left the general classification unchanged.

Team Type 1 - sanofi-aventis rider Will Dugan retained his third place on the overall classification, 8 seconds back from Austrian Markus Eibegger of the Iran-based Tabriz Petrochemical Team. German rider Tobias Erler, also of Tabriz Petrochemical, sits in second, four seconds ahead of Dugan.

Monday’s stage began with sporadic rain showers and temperatures around 8C, with a breakaway forming after the day’s one classified mountain climb.

"Tabriz rode the front today to keep it organized. It was crosswindy all day and cold for the first 80k. It began really cold with rain, but then it let up after the KOM, relieving us a bit. The roads were slick and we could feel the rear wheels slipping a bit as we climbed out of the saddle," Dugan said.

With the two top classified riders, Tabriz Petrochemical bore the responsibility of chasing down the break, and caught the escapees with around 2k left in the stage.

"We had the day off, so to speak. The break had a maximum 2:15, but it was just two guys. Right after they were caught there was a big crash in the field that included the race leader. He is ok, and with the 3k rule he did not lose any time," said Director Sportif Mike Carter.

As an added measure of safety in professional cycling, and under certain circumstances, within three kilometers of a sprint finish any rider involved in a crash is credited with the same time as the winner.

Team Type 1 - sanofi-aventis rider Alessandro Bazzana took fifth in the final sprint, and all five riders finished in the main peloton.