Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team

Rujano reaps the rewards five years on Askari stage third

He came, he saw, he conquered. At a diminuitive 1.62m (5'4") and 48kg (110lb) he's the smallest sorcerer at this year's Tour de Langkawi and on the Genting climb this afternoon he weaved the magic of a man who is quite possibly the best South American climber right now.

The 28-year-old Venezuelan, who won a stage in Sestrière during the 2005 Giro d'Italia having been the runner-up in that year's Tour de Langkawi, showed he has lost little of that climbing spark despite experiencing a lean run over the past five seasons.

Five years ago he finished the Genting stage in second, beaten by eventual champion Ryan Cox and finishing ahead of 2003 Langkawi winner Tom Danielson. Today the 'almost' became a 'certainly' as no one could match Rujano's pace and finesse up the mountain.

His redemption is a virtually unassailable lead heading into tomorrow's Kuala Lumpur criterium, coming courtesy of an exceptional performance on the higher slopes that took riders to Genting and determined what will likely be the final general classification.

"My team did perfect work preparing me for the climb," said Rujano. "I was a little scared over the final three kilometres because I had a hunger flat but I managed to maintain my rhythm, ride strongly and come through for the win."

ISD sees wealth for toil

One thing that has remained constant throughout the week is comments alluding to the work done by ISD-Neri; the Italian squad has controlled the peloton for Rujano and today that toil came to fruition.

Despite early attacks, including a solo break by Silvere Ackermann (Vorarlberg-Corratec) which lasted a little over 30km, as expected it all came down to the slopes of Genting.

With 15km remaining Rujano made his move, having been well sheltered by his six teammates, and only had Peter McDonald (Drapac-Porsche), Ghader Mizbani, Hossein Askari (both Tabriz Petrochemical), Hyo Suk Gong (Seoul Cycling) and Amir Zargari (Azad UNiversity Iran) to contend with.

But by the banner indicating five kilometres remaining, Rujano had virtually made the stage his own, with the remaining breakaway riders scattered on the slopes, destined to finish more than two minutes behind ISD-Neri's leader, who looked reasonably fresh at the finish.

"I'm actually feeling better now than five years ago, continued Rujano, who was asked how his performance in this year's Tour de Langkawi compared to that of five years ago and the possible implications this had for his prospects in the Giro d'Italia in May.

"It was my goal to start campaigning for the Giro at the Tour de Langkawi - winning this race was my first goal before the Giro d'Italia. It's my big goal this year to win the Giro d'Italia and up until now everything has gone according to plan; I'm riding at 75 percent of my best condition and I hope to reach my best condition for the Giro," he explained.

Rujano has called myriad teams his home over the past five years, including Colombia Selle Italia, Quick Step, Unibet.com, Caisse d'Epargne and now ISD-Neri. He admitted that the unsettled nature of his tenure at various teams had contributed to his lack of performances following that breakthrough season in 2005.

This year he was the overwhelming favourite going into the week-long event and he justified that billing by displaying the form that netted him overall wins in the Vuelta a Colombia and his national tour last year before taking out the Vuelta al Tachira earlier this year. It's therefore natural that today's testing gradient would prove no mountain too high for the slight Venezuelan.

"Genting is a very hard climb - to compare it with Colombia, when you race in Colombia for 15 days you have 10 climbs like that, so it's more difficult and complicated to win the races in Colombia," said Rujano.

Good day for the Asian riders

The day's standout performer was Seoul Cycling's Hyo Suk Gong, the young Korean coming out of nowhere to take second place in the stage and secure himself a place on the final podium. He was able to go with Rujano's attack with about 15km remaining and despite losing contact with the eventual stage winner he finished a brilliant second, 27 seconds ahead of Hossein Askari (Tabriz Petrochemical).

In so doing he secured the Best Asian Rider classification, his performance deserving of the title and one he was visibly pleased to have clinched as he crossed the line.

Another rider wowing the Asian fans was Anuar Manan, the young Malaysian who took yesterday's stage to Port Dickson and in so doing virtually made the green jersey his own. With the burden of riding for that classification lifted, He seemed relaxed after the finish.

"I'm confident I can keep the green jersey until the end," said Manan, who finished the stage well down in the standings but arrived at the summit to a cheer from the locals. "I'm not worried about the jersey now but trying to win another stage tomorrow because it's a good day for a sprinter like me.

"Tomorrow I'll just be watching Matthews if he is fighting to take the points on the intermediate sprint and I know I can take them too. I'll be saving energy and my teammates will be helping make it easier for me and then I can fight for the stage [win]."