Goh outlasts Teoh in epic Singapore national champs road race
May 24, 2017
Goh Choon Huat (Terengganu Cycling Team) held off a gutsy challenge from fellow Singaporean Yi Peng Teoh (Specialized Roval Mavericks) and the hard-charging peloton to clinch the 2017 OCBC Cycle Singapore National Road Racing Championships on Sunday.
In the Women’s race, Luo Yiwei (National Training Squad) defended the title she won last year, pipping fellow national team rider Serene Lee (CyclingTraining.Asia) in the sprint.
Torrential rain hit the Seletar North Link circuit about an hour before the prestigious Men’s Open race was due to start, prompting fears the road race would go the same way as the national time trial championships two weeks earlier which had to be cancelled due to a violent thunderstorm.
But while Sunday’s main event was plagued by intermittent heavy rain, the lightning that caused the ITT champs to be called off, stayed far enough away that the racing could continue.
(Read our report of that curtailed 2017 ITT champs by clicking on this link.)
And what a race it turned out to be. A peloton of some 80 riders lined up for the start atop a bridge that connects “mainland” Singapore to a man-made island reclaimed from the sea that has become a popular piece of road for local cyclists since it opened a few years ago.
Ahead lay 12 laps of the same 6.25km course that was used for the May 7 ITT champs, but with the direction switched to anticlockwise. Multiple laps of a short circuit and a total distance of just 75km might not provide the perfect stage for a national championship race, but it was a superior challenge than the 42km of last year’s contest and infinitely better than the non-races of 2014 and 2015.
Goh Choon Huat (Terengganu Cycling Team) held off a gutsy challenge from fellow Singaporean Yi Peng Teoh (Specialized Roval Mavericks) and the hard-charging peloton to clinch the 2017 OCBC Cycle Singapore National Road Racing Championships on Sunday.
In the Women’s race, Luo Yiwei (National Training Squad) defended the title she won last year, pipping fellow national team rider Serene Lee (CyclingTraining.Asia) in the sprint.
Torrential rain hit the Seletar North Link circuit about an hour before the prestigious Men’s Open race was due to start, prompting fears the road race would go the same way as the national time trial championships two weeks earlier which had to be cancelled due to a violent thunderstorm.
But while Sunday’s main event was plagued by intermittent heavy rain, the lightning that caused the ITT champs to be called off, stayed far enough away that the racing could continue.
(Read our report of that curtailed 2017 ITT champs by clicking on this link.)
And what a race it turned out to be. A peloton of some 80 riders lined up for the start atop a bridge that connects “mainland” Singapore to a man-made island reclaimed from the sea that has become a popular piece of road for local cyclists since it opened a few years ago.
Ahead lay 12 laps of the same 6.25km course that was used for the May 7 ITT champs, but with the direction switched to anticlockwise. Multiple laps of a short circuit and a total distance of just 75km might not provide the perfect stage for a national championship race, but it was a superior challenge than the 42km of last year’s contest and infinitely better than the non-races of 2014 and 2015.
The tight U-turn provided the drama of jam-packed, two-way action on each lap
The rain and U-turns at either end of the course were always going to provide an explosive mix, but nobody expected the drama to start before the big bunch had even negotiated the far turn for the first time. However, two-thirds of the way down the outward leg of the course, a huge pile-up saw some 15 riders cut off from the peloton, their races seemingly over before they’d even got going.
Pre-race favourite Goh was one of the riders caught up in the crash, but with a squad of teammates from Terengganu, a Pro Continental outfit, at his service, he chased hard and regained the peloton.
The racing for the next few laps was hard and fast on the straights and extremely nervy on the U-turns, especially on the near end of the circuit, which was downhill and extremely tight. With the team tents positioned alongside this end of the course, the turn was a spectacle each of the 12 times the riders negotiated it.
Plenty of attacks were launched in the first third of the race but all proved to be futile until a five-man move formed during the fifth lap. As this breakaway rounded the near U-turn as a unit for the first time with a lead of some 20 seconds, the crowd could see that its composition made it a potential winning one; in it were Goh, top sprinter Brian Ng (Guerciotti Racing Team), Bastian Dohling (Specialized Roval Mavericks), 2015 SEA Games Team Singapore rider Noel Teh (Loue Black Dot) and current national team member Teoh.
All five riders have powerful pedigrees and knew that their four teams, who together comprised a sizeable chunk of the peloton, would no doubt be doing their best to disrupt the chase behind.
Still, with the bunch containing strong contingents from the likes of AlliedWorld Champion System, Geylang Cycling Team, Johor Bahru Cycling Team, Team West Coast, MatadorRacing and many others, the escapees were unlikely to get an easy ride to the finish line.
Ng only lasting one lap in then break didn’t help matters for the runaways, but the remaining quartet worked well as a unit and lap by lap they steadily increased the lead, until it reached as wide as 75 seconds with four laps to go. By this point, though, the lead group was down to three, with Teh the man to drop off.
Behind, the crashes kept happening as the still heavy rain, lots of standing water and big-race jitters proved a hazardous combination, but the chase had been boosted by the unexpected arrival of some of the men caught out in the Lap 1 crash, including the powerful Mike Koreneff (Allied World Champion System) and former pro cyclist Calvin Sim (Loue Black Dot).
Out front, though, with the Singapore national jersey at stake for two of the men, and Dohling fully committed to helping his teammate get it, the trio had maintained the gap at 75 seconds after they had counted down one more lap and many in the crowd were beginning to believe the champ would come from the break.
Pre-race favourite Goh was one of the riders caught up in the crash, but with a squad of teammates from Terengganu, a Pro Continental outfit, at his service, he chased hard and regained the peloton.
The racing for the next few laps was hard and fast on the straights and extremely nervy on the U-turns, especially on the near end of the circuit, which was downhill and extremely tight. With the team tents positioned alongside this end of the course, the turn was a spectacle each of the 12 times the riders negotiated it.
Plenty of attacks were launched in the first third of the race but all proved to be futile until a five-man move formed during the fifth lap. As this breakaway rounded the near U-turn as a unit for the first time with a lead of some 20 seconds, the crowd could see that its composition made it a potential winning one; in it were Goh, top sprinter Brian Ng (Guerciotti Racing Team), Bastian Dohling (Specialized Roval Mavericks), 2015 SEA Games Team Singapore rider Noel Teh (Loue Black Dot) and current national team member Teoh.
All five riders have powerful pedigrees and knew that their four teams, who together comprised a sizeable chunk of the peloton, would no doubt be doing their best to disrupt the chase behind.
Still, with the bunch containing strong contingents from the likes of AlliedWorld Champion System, Geylang Cycling Team, Johor Bahru Cycling Team, Team West Coast, MatadorRacing and many others, the escapees were unlikely to get an easy ride to the finish line.
Ng only lasting one lap in then break didn’t help matters for the runaways, but the remaining quartet worked well as a unit and lap by lap they steadily increased the lead, until it reached as wide as 75 seconds with four laps to go. By this point, though, the lead group was down to three, with Teh the man to drop off.
Behind, the crashes kept happening as the still heavy rain, lots of standing water and big-race jitters proved a hazardous combination, but the chase had been boosted by the unexpected arrival of some of the men caught out in the Lap 1 crash, including the powerful Mike Koreneff (Allied World Champion System) and former pro cyclist Calvin Sim (Loue Black Dot).
Out front, though, with the Singapore national jersey at stake for two of the men, and Dohling fully committed to helping his teammate get it, the trio had maintained the gap at 75 seconds after they had counted down one more lap and many in the crowd were beginning to believe the champ would come from the break.
It was much easier for Teoh, Dohling, Goh and Teh to negotiate the U-turn in the breakaway
Perhaps inevitably, the peloton finally started to eat into the lead, and the gap was down to 50 seconds with two laps to go. Could the leaders hold on for 12.5km more?
It certainly didn’t seem so when just 15 seconds after the breakaway riders appeared over the top of the bridge to cross the start-finish line for the penultimate time, along came the hard-charging peloton.
The game was surely up, especially when Dohling rolled off completely spent shortly after the U-turn, leaving Goh and Teoh to what was surely going to be agonising capture. The crowd certainly thought so, as did the race commissaries, who started preparing for a sprint finish.
But incredibly, Goh and Teoh held the would-be spoilers off, and as the sun even came out to salute the gallant duo, it was the Terengganu man who had the most energy left for the sprint, launching a vicious kick near the top of bridge up-slope that propelled him to a clear victory. Teoh crossed the line three seconds later, just two seconds ahead of the peloton.
It certainly didn’t seem so when just 15 seconds after the breakaway riders appeared over the top of the bridge to cross the start-finish line for the penultimate time, along came the hard-charging peloton.
The game was surely up, especially when Dohling rolled off completely spent shortly after the U-turn, leaving Goh and Teoh to what was surely going to be agonising capture. The crowd certainly thought so, as did the race commissaries, who started preparing for a sprint finish.
But incredibly, Goh and Teoh held the would-be spoilers off, and as the sun even came out to salute the gallant duo, it was the Terengganu man who had the most energy left for the sprint, launching a vicious kick near the top of bridge up-slope that propelled him to a clear victory. Teoh crossed the line three seconds later, just two seconds ahead of the peloton.
The Men's Open podium
Defending champion Mohd Elyas (Cycleworx) won the bunch sprint, to make it an all-Singaporean podium, a fitting ending to such an epic race.
It was a popular win for the man affectionately known as “Ah Huat” and he was obviously delighted to have added the road racing national championships to the time trial title he won last year.
“Yes, I’m happy for myself. First lap I crashed and I got really quite fed up and angry about that because I didn’t want the same situation to repeat from last year, because I crashed last year also and I broke my bike. So first I just got up and checked my bike, and then I went off straight away. Luckily my friends and all my teammates waited for me and we got back to the peloton,” he revealed post-race..
“Then on the fourth or fifth lap, I initiated the breakaway and that’s when I saw Yi Peng and Bastian and Noel and one other guy (Ng) coming with me, and then we just worked all the way to the finish.”
Surely he must have thought they were going to get caught on the last lap?
“I kind of planned it quite well, so to me I still thought I could win it. We were still able to maintain the gap,” the new 2017 national champ said.
Women's Open
The Women’s Open race was on track at the same time as the men, with the ladies facing 10 laps of the circuit for a total of 62.5km.
The heavy rain and disappointingly small field of only eight riders no doubt had some bearing on the fairly sedate nature of the race. While one woman dropped off the pace on the first lap, none of the remaining seven could force a break and as the race wound on, it seemed destined to end in a sprint finish.
And so it was, with all seven women contesting it. Chawaree Termtanan (Guerciotti Racing Team) led it out, but it was Luo who proved to be the strongest, as she powered by Lee for the win. Michelle Ho (Bikesnbites/Rapha) was half a length back from Lee in third.
It was a popular win for the man affectionately known as “Ah Huat” and he was obviously delighted to have added the road racing national championships to the time trial title he won last year.
“Yes, I’m happy for myself. First lap I crashed and I got really quite fed up and angry about that because I didn’t want the same situation to repeat from last year, because I crashed last year also and I broke my bike. So first I just got up and checked my bike, and then I went off straight away. Luckily my friends and all my teammates waited for me and we got back to the peloton,” he revealed post-race..
“Then on the fourth or fifth lap, I initiated the breakaway and that’s when I saw Yi Peng and Bastian and Noel and one other guy (Ng) coming with me, and then we just worked all the way to the finish.”
Surely he must have thought they were going to get caught on the last lap?
“I kind of planned it quite well, so to me I still thought I could win it. We were still able to maintain the gap,” the new 2017 national champ said.
Women's Open
The Women’s Open race was on track at the same time as the men, with the ladies facing 10 laps of the circuit for a total of 62.5km.
The heavy rain and disappointingly small field of only eight riders no doubt had some bearing on the fairly sedate nature of the race. While one woman dropped off the pace on the first lap, none of the remaining seven could force a break and as the race wound on, it seemed destined to end in a sprint finish.
And so it was, with all seven women contesting it. Chawaree Termtanan (Guerciotti Racing Team) led it out, but it was Luo who proved to be the strongest, as she powered by Lee for the win. Michelle Ho (Bikesnbites/Rapha) was half a length back from Lee in third.
How did Luo feel to win the title two years in a row?
“Lucky, lucky,” she said laughing. “I think luck plays a big part.”
“We ended up in bunch sprint and I was lucky enough to catch onto my teammate’s wheel and then yeah, I had the legs for it.”
“There was one Thai rider Chawaree and Serene was in Chawaree’s wheel, and I was in a good position behind her and then we sprinted it out,” said the now two-time national road racing champ.
“Lucky, lucky,” she said laughing. “I think luck plays a big part.”
“We ended up in bunch sprint and I was lucky enough to catch onto my teammate’s wheel and then yeah, I had the legs for it.”
“There was one Thai rider Chawaree and Serene was in Chawaree’s wheel, and I was in a good position behind her and then we sprinted it out,” said the now two-time national road racing champ.
The nine new Singapore national champions
Juniors
The Singapore national championships are officially sanctioned by cycling’s governing body the Union Cycliste International, and in the eyes of the UCI, the next most important events on Sunday’s race card were those for the Juniors A. While sadly there were no entrants for the female Juniors A contest, the male race featured a strong line-up of Singapore’s best 17-18 year-olds, as well as a few guests from over the border in Malaysia.
And it was the riders from the Johor Bahru Cycling Team that set the race alight, with two of the young Malaysians, Muhamad Hafizul Asyraf bin Jaafar and Muhamad Faiz bin Hata, breaking away on Lap 2 of the four-lap, 25km contest.
Racing in the worst of the morning’s rain, the peloton seemed unable or unwilling to chase the duo, with the local riders perhaps happy to battle among themselves for the national championship, which of course can only go to a Singaporean.
The JB pair duly ran away with the race, with Hafizul taking the win. Behind the whole peloton was still together at the bell, but the expected sprint finish didn’t materialise as Moh Jie Yu (Geylang Cycling Team) attacked long and easily took third place and with it the national title.
Seven other national titles were handed out on Sunday. Starting the action at 7:30am were the Juniors Bs (for 13-16 year olds), and it was the WACycles pairing of Chan Jian Le and Khern Yu Yuan who contested the sprint finish, with Chan prevailing. Jared Wong (30forty Cycling Team) took the bronze medal.
Ashley Lui (SCGS-Cycleworx) won the girls’ Juniors B race unopposed.
Masters, Super Masters and Veterans
Continuing a disappointing trend for local female cycling, the Women’s Masters (35-44) and Super Masters (45+) contests only attracted three entrants each. To their credit, the three ladies that did register and turn up in both races didn’t just go through the motions and so they all fully deserved their podium places at the end of the day.
Christina Liew (Treknology) won the Masters race from Esther Chua (Cycleworx), with Isabele Tan in third. Chua took the national title as first Singaporean.
Lynette Ngo (Team Cycledelic) won the sprint and with it the national title in the Super Masters race, from Colleen Ang (Cycleworx) and Ruth Stubbs (Anza Cycling).
The Singapore national championships are officially sanctioned by cycling’s governing body the Union Cycliste International, and in the eyes of the UCI, the next most important events on Sunday’s race card were those for the Juniors A. While sadly there were no entrants for the female Juniors A contest, the male race featured a strong line-up of Singapore’s best 17-18 year-olds, as well as a few guests from over the border in Malaysia.
And it was the riders from the Johor Bahru Cycling Team that set the race alight, with two of the young Malaysians, Muhamad Hafizul Asyraf bin Jaafar and Muhamad Faiz bin Hata, breaking away on Lap 2 of the four-lap, 25km contest.
Racing in the worst of the morning’s rain, the peloton seemed unable or unwilling to chase the duo, with the local riders perhaps happy to battle among themselves for the national championship, which of course can only go to a Singaporean.
The JB pair duly ran away with the race, with Hafizul taking the win. Behind the whole peloton was still together at the bell, but the expected sprint finish didn’t materialise as Moh Jie Yu (Geylang Cycling Team) attacked long and easily took third place and with it the national title.
Seven other national titles were handed out on Sunday. Starting the action at 7:30am were the Juniors Bs (for 13-16 year olds), and it was the WACycles pairing of Chan Jian Le and Khern Yu Yuan who contested the sprint finish, with Chan prevailing. Jared Wong (30forty Cycling Team) took the bronze medal.
Ashley Lui (SCGS-Cycleworx) won the girls’ Juniors B race unopposed.
Masters, Super Masters and Veterans
Continuing a disappointing trend for local female cycling, the Women’s Masters (35-44) and Super Masters (45+) contests only attracted three entrants each. To their credit, the three ladies that did register and turn up in both races didn’t just go through the motions and so they all fully deserved their podium places at the end of the day.
Christina Liew (Treknology) won the Masters race from Esther Chua (Cycleworx), with Isabele Tan in third. Chua took the national title as first Singaporean.
Lynette Ngo (Team Cycledelic) won the sprint and with it the national title in the Super Masters race, from Colleen Ang (Cycleworx) and Ruth Stubbs (Anza Cycling).
Local legend Kenneth Tan proved a popular winner of the super masters race
There were no such problems in attracting numbers for the older male age group races, and both the Masters and combined Super Masters/Veterans contests were well-attended and hotly contested affairs.
The Masters race featured an early solo break from Romain Barbier (MatadorRacing), but the peloton kept him dangling out front for two laps before eventually reeling him in. The Matadors had the last laugh in the four-lap contest, though, with their man Kelvin Khoo winning the sprint finish. Second place went to Mohamed Fadzli bin Hayof (Team Fazzbike 360 Racing), which was enough for the man popularly known as Fazzboi to retain his Masters national title. Andreas Ostern (Specialized Roval Mavericks) took third place.
The Super Masters race also featured another early breakaway, this one featuring Richard Paine (Specialized Roval Mavericks), Peter McQuade (Anza Cycling) and Goh Gam Seng (Geylang Racing Team). This break lasted for two and a half laps, with a series of attacks immediately followed its capture. But nothing was getting away and the pace on the final 3km stretch to the finish line was fast and furious, with the entire peloton strung out in a line. Inevitably it came to a sprint and a very popular winner emerged in the shape of Kenneth Tan of Cycleworx fame. David Strooper (MatadorRacing) was second, with Paine in third.
Sunday’s win clinched a national title double for Tan, as the former track star also clinched the ITT championship on May 7.
Stephen Wong (Anza Cycling) won the sub-battle for the Veterans title, taking the win and the national jersey in the sprint from Ian McDonald (JoyRiders), with Henry Tang (640 Racing) in third.
For full results of the 2017 OCBC Cycle Singapore National Road Racing Championships visit event organiser Dirtraction’s link here.
The first half of the 2017 Singapore cycling calendar ends this Sunday, May 28, with the URA Share the Road Team Criterium. Entries are still open, visit www.cycosports.com for details.
Related content: "Luo claims women's 2017 ITT nationals but men's race washed out"
The Masters race featured an early solo break from Romain Barbier (MatadorRacing), but the peloton kept him dangling out front for two laps before eventually reeling him in. The Matadors had the last laugh in the four-lap contest, though, with their man Kelvin Khoo winning the sprint finish. Second place went to Mohamed Fadzli bin Hayof (Team Fazzbike 360 Racing), which was enough for the man popularly known as Fazzboi to retain his Masters national title. Andreas Ostern (Specialized Roval Mavericks) took third place.
The Super Masters race also featured another early breakaway, this one featuring Richard Paine (Specialized Roval Mavericks), Peter McQuade (Anza Cycling) and Goh Gam Seng (Geylang Racing Team). This break lasted for two and a half laps, with a series of attacks immediately followed its capture. But nothing was getting away and the pace on the final 3km stretch to the finish line was fast and furious, with the entire peloton strung out in a line. Inevitably it came to a sprint and a very popular winner emerged in the shape of Kenneth Tan of Cycleworx fame. David Strooper (MatadorRacing) was second, with Paine in third.
Sunday’s win clinched a national title double for Tan, as the former track star also clinched the ITT championship on May 7.
Stephen Wong (Anza Cycling) won the sub-battle for the Veterans title, taking the win and the national jersey in the sprint from Ian McDonald (JoyRiders), with Henry Tang (640 Racing) in third.
For full results of the 2017 OCBC Cycle Singapore National Road Racing Championships visit event organiser Dirtraction’s link here.
The first half of the 2017 Singapore cycling calendar ends this Sunday, May 28, with the URA Share the Road Team Criterium. Entries are still open, visit www.cycosports.com for details.
Related content: "Luo claims women's 2017 ITT nationals but men's race washed out"