Tour de Bintan: Stage 2

Stage 2 (73km)

Our main objective now is to keep Francis safe and hold on to his 10th spot in the GC. He will try to conserve and maybe go for a placing in the final sprint. But of course if a chance presents itself, he will go in the break. I will try to go on the offensive and maybe get some points in the KOM. I didn't come to this race just to follow. I wanted to do something, and staying 20-30th in GC same time as main bunch is not what i wanted. I'd rather try but get dropped than to follow and finish. I've gotten over the first stage fresher than most people and stages 2 & 3 are shorter, which means even if i got dropped i should be able to ride till the end.

Knowing the first KOM is in the first 8km, i stayed right at the front from the start. There were a break of 3 riders but they were in sight. Entering the climb up to the first KOM, the pace slowed somewhat and i thought this might be a good chance to go. Stupidly enough, i went... And after 20secs, my legs reminded me of how powerless i felt. My max heart rate of 166bpm showed that i was obviously not pushing as hard as i should have been, but my legs just simply couldn't turn the pedals round. I sat up and as i looked around, Samuel Yang and Zamri Salleh (Pico-Bikelabz) shot passed me followed by the string of peloton which looked to be snapping under the ferocious pace. Everyone was going full gas up and over the KOM point. Soon i was at the tail of the pack but i simply could not latch on. After the race i heard from Francis they were going hard down after the climb at 70km/h. There was no way i could hang on when im already at my limit. The pack took just half a minute and they were out of my sight. My race in stage 2 was over in just 8km of racing.

Zamri Salleh (Pico-Bikelabz) in KOM jersey

 I sat up and waited for Cat 2, which started 15mins after us, so i could tag along to conserve some energy for stage 3. Soon i was joined by a spanish rider Josep from CCCamp who got dropped even earlier than me. We took turns to do "pussy" pulls of 30km/h until Cat 2 came along.

In the end, i finished 16mins behind the winner. A break won again and there were few adjustments in the overall GC. Francis had dropped out of top 10, likewise for some others. He had gone with the winning break but dropped out due to the high pace. If he had hung on till the end he would certainly moved up to top 5 or even podium maybe. It was a waste! Robert finished safely in the bunch again and Amos 15mins behind due to another flat. Stage 2 didn't end up the best for the team but everyone finished safe in one piece and we could fight again in stage 3!

Stage 2 data