Rookie Thrall shocks them all to win Tour of Phuket on debut
Tan leaves it late to claim Women's Open title
(Photo courtesy Wasuwat Torkaew / Unfound)
March 11, 2019
After three days of hot, hard and exciting racing in southern Thailand, Thomas Thrall (Matador Racing) and Chelsea Tan (BikeLabz Racing) are the new king and queen of the Singha Tour of Phuket. Just like last year, the key to the elite Men’s Open title at the 2019 race ended up being the opening prologue, with Thrall using success in that short time trial as a foundation to claim the overall title. There was a different route to success for Women’s champ Tan, as the Singaporean had to come from behind and win both Stage 2 and Stage 3 to make up the seven-second deficit she faced after the TT.
The fourth edition of the Tour of Phuket was without a doubt the biggest and best yet, with bumper fields across the different racing groups, plus the race organisation was taken up a level; assisting Cycosports this year were media partner Unfound, local ground logistics partner Nich Cycling, Champion System supplied the race leaders’ jerseys, and of course, Thailand’s premier beer Singha came on board as title sponsor.
Stage 1, ITT
The three-day race kicked off on the Friday afternoon with that Stage 1 prologue, held for the third year running on the bike path round the Phuket Gateway visitor centre. The course is only 4.7km long, but that short distance was enough to create the time gaps that set the scene for the two days of open-road racing across the Sarasin Bridge in beautiful Phang Nga province.
Defending champion Ben Arnott (Specialized Roval Mavericks) was an early leader with his time of 5 minutes 47.87 seconds, but such was the depth within the 75-strong Men’s Open field that he was soon unseated from his place in the virtual hotseat, and indeed nobody held that position for too long as the times kept tumbling. With the riders set off in alphabetical order, Thrall was one of the last starters, but the Canadian, made a huge impact, going five seconds faster than anybody else at that point with his mark of 5:36.27. Another late starter Boon Kiak Yeo (CyclingTraining CC) was the runner-up some four seconds back, with Jambaljants Sainbayer (Roojai.com Cycling Team) in third.
After three days of hot, hard and exciting racing in southern Thailand, Thomas Thrall (Matador Racing) and Chelsea Tan (BikeLabz Racing) are the new king and queen of the Singha Tour of Phuket. Just like last year, the key to the elite Men’s Open title at the 2019 race ended up being the opening prologue, with Thrall using success in that short time trial as a foundation to claim the overall title. There was a different route to success for Women’s champ Tan, as the Singaporean had to come from behind and win both Stage 2 and Stage 3 to make up the seven-second deficit she faced after the TT.
The fourth edition of the Tour of Phuket was without a doubt the biggest and best yet, with bumper fields across the different racing groups, plus the race organisation was taken up a level; assisting Cycosports this year were media partner Unfound, local ground logistics partner Nich Cycling, Champion System supplied the race leaders’ jerseys, and of course, Thailand’s premier beer Singha came on board as title sponsor.
Stage 1, ITT
The three-day race kicked off on the Friday afternoon with that Stage 1 prologue, held for the third year running on the bike path round the Phuket Gateway visitor centre. The course is only 4.7km long, but that short distance was enough to create the time gaps that set the scene for the two days of open-road racing across the Sarasin Bridge in beautiful Phang Nga province.
Defending champion Ben Arnott (Specialized Roval Mavericks) was an early leader with his time of 5 minutes 47.87 seconds, but such was the depth within the 75-strong Men’s Open field that he was soon unseated from his place in the virtual hotseat, and indeed nobody held that position for too long as the times kept tumbling. With the riders set off in alphabetical order, Thrall was one of the last starters, but the Canadian, made a huge impact, going five seconds faster than anybody else at that point with his mark of 5:36.27. Another late starter Boon Kiak Yeo (CyclingTraining CC) was the runner-up some four seconds back, with Jambaljants Sainbayer (Roojai.com Cycling Team) in third.
(Photo courtesy Wasuwat Torkaew / Unfound)
The women’s TT crown went to Sarah Schneider (Matador Racing), with her time of 6:36.44 giving her a four-second advantage over the runner-up Lucy Richardson (Thanyapura). Tan finished a few seconds back in third.
Like most of the amateur stage races in Southeast Asia, the Tour of Phuket features age group racing in addition to the Open contests, and there were sizeable and strong fields in the Masters (35-44 years) Super Masters (45-54 years) and Veterans (55+) fields. The Stage 1 Masters winner was Romain Barbier (Matador Racing). The big Andorran’s time of 5:43.66 was actually the fifth-fastest time of the day across all categories. The runner-up David Lloyd (Velo Vietnam) also set a super-fast split of 5:45.22, while Marc Tzivelekas (4T2) was three seconds back in third. The Super Masters winner Tim Carter (Virgin Active) enjoyed the biggest winning margin of 11 seconds, which was over Micheal Boesiger (DT Swiss Asia), with Alexander Liauw in third. Jhel Olsen (Boras CA) took the Veterans title from Peter Williamson (Anza Cycling) and David Best (Velo Vietnam).
Stage 2, 137km road race
The Saturday morning saw the entire group of 300+ cyclists gather in a sports field a few kilometres north of Phuket for Stage 2, a 137km journey through the much-quieter-than-Phuket roads of Phang Nga. The province of Phang Nga enjoys worldwide fame thanks to its "James Bond Island", but it has also been an integral part of every edition of the tour, a fact reflected in the full name of the race now being the Tour of Phuket and Phang Nga. For this year's Stage 2, the main obstacles aside from the distance, heat and humidity were two relatively short, but quite steep KOM climbs that were predicted to cause some selections.
After a well-respected request to “take it easy” for the first 25km as the riders negotiated some twisty roads running through a series of villages, the Men’s Open race soon burst into action. The Matadors covered most of the early moves, but then Mike Koreneff (Allied World Treknology) was allowed to escape on his own. His brave but ultimately futile adventure out front ended after some 60km when the bunch caught him at the foot of the second KOM sprint at the 104km mark. There could have been no worse place for the Aussie to be reeled in as the race exploded on the climb and the tricky descent, with half the field spat out the back.
Like most of the amateur stage races in Southeast Asia, the Tour of Phuket features age group racing in addition to the Open contests, and there were sizeable and strong fields in the Masters (35-44 years) Super Masters (45-54 years) and Veterans (55+) fields. The Stage 1 Masters winner was Romain Barbier (Matador Racing). The big Andorran’s time of 5:43.66 was actually the fifth-fastest time of the day across all categories. The runner-up David Lloyd (Velo Vietnam) also set a super-fast split of 5:45.22, while Marc Tzivelekas (4T2) was three seconds back in third. The Super Masters winner Tim Carter (Virgin Active) enjoyed the biggest winning margin of 11 seconds, which was over Micheal Boesiger (DT Swiss Asia), with Alexander Liauw in third. Jhel Olsen (Boras CA) took the Veterans title from Peter Williamson (Anza Cycling) and David Best (Velo Vietnam).
Stage 2, 137km road race
The Saturday morning saw the entire group of 300+ cyclists gather in a sports field a few kilometres north of Phuket for Stage 2, a 137km journey through the much-quieter-than-Phuket roads of Phang Nga. The province of Phang Nga enjoys worldwide fame thanks to its "James Bond Island", but it has also been an integral part of every edition of the tour, a fact reflected in the full name of the race now being the Tour of Phuket and Phang Nga. For this year's Stage 2, the main obstacles aside from the distance, heat and humidity were two relatively short, but quite steep KOM climbs that were predicted to cause some selections.
After a well-respected request to “take it easy” for the first 25km as the riders negotiated some twisty roads running through a series of villages, the Men’s Open race soon burst into action. The Matadors covered most of the early moves, but then Mike Koreneff (Allied World Treknology) was allowed to escape on his own. His brave but ultimately futile adventure out front ended after some 60km when the bunch caught him at the foot of the second KOM sprint at the 104km mark. There could have been no worse place for the Aussie to be reeled in as the race exploded on the climb and the tricky descent, with half the field spat out the back.
The Stage 2 photo finish. (photo courtesy of Cycosports)
The attacks came thick and fast over the final 30km, and even though race leader Thrall and his team looked under pressure at times, they handled everything with aplomb and in the end a bunch of some 35 riders tore down on the line for the sprint. It was tight, with the winner Sakchai Phodignam (AeroUp x Royal Thai Police Cycling) prevailing by less that tyre width from Thrall, with Yeo third half a wheel back. Thanks to the 10, six and four bonus seconds awarded to the first three finishers, Thrall now stood six seconds clear of Yeo on the general classification.
The Masters race also featured a long solo breakaway, this time from Matt Lecornu (Specialized Roval Mavericks). The big Australian spent 40km on his own and this allowed him to latch onto the seven-man breakaway when it came through. This group of escapees split further with some 15km to go after race leader Barbier decided to ride away from everybody else! The Matador man crossed the line some 70 seconds ahead of the rest, with Lloyd and Tzivelekas reprising their podium finishes from Stage 1. Thus the GC podium positions remained the same, but Barbier now had a handy lead.
The Super Masters rode with the Veterans and the Women racers in one big bunch, but this had been reduced to just 13 riders after the second KOM. That baker’s dozen, comprising 12 Masters and one veteran, produced a thrilling finish, with first Dan Smith (Matador Racing) and Marcus Hancock (Integrated Riding) making a bold move from 3km out, then Alan Grant (Specialized Roval Mavericks) bridged and passed the pair and with 500m to go looked set for the win. But he was caught just before the line by stage winner Colin Pearson (Matador Racing), a resurgent Hancock and Stephen Ames (Specialized Roval Mavericks).
Carter kept the GC lead but that was reduced to nine seconds, with Pearson moving into P2 thanks to the 10 bonus second for the stage win. Boesiger remained third, a further two seconds back.
Robert Herrera was the only Veterans rider to make the selection, so he took the stage win and the GC lead after finishing more than 90 seconds ahead of runner-up Jonathan Earnshaw (YBCO Racing) and Tom Redding (Nike).
In the Women’s race, Tan and Schneider finished well clear of the rest of the female competitors, with the former taking the win comfortably in the sprint and cutting her GC deficit to three seconds going into the concluding Stage 3.
The Masters race also featured a long solo breakaway, this time from Matt Lecornu (Specialized Roval Mavericks). The big Australian spent 40km on his own and this allowed him to latch onto the seven-man breakaway when it came through. This group of escapees split further with some 15km to go after race leader Barbier decided to ride away from everybody else! The Matador man crossed the line some 70 seconds ahead of the rest, with Lloyd and Tzivelekas reprising their podium finishes from Stage 1. Thus the GC podium positions remained the same, but Barbier now had a handy lead.
The Super Masters rode with the Veterans and the Women racers in one big bunch, but this had been reduced to just 13 riders after the second KOM. That baker’s dozen, comprising 12 Masters and one veteran, produced a thrilling finish, with first Dan Smith (Matador Racing) and Marcus Hancock (Integrated Riding) making a bold move from 3km out, then Alan Grant (Specialized Roval Mavericks) bridged and passed the pair and with 500m to go looked set for the win. But he was caught just before the line by stage winner Colin Pearson (Matador Racing), a resurgent Hancock and Stephen Ames (Specialized Roval Mavericks).
Carter kept the GC lead but that was reduced to nine seconds, with Pearson moving into P2 thanks to the 10 bonus second for the stage win. Boesiger remained third, a further two seconds back.
Robert Herrera was the only Veterans rider to make the selection, so he took the stage win and the GC lead after finishing more than 90 seconds ahead of runner-up Jonathan Earnshaw (YBCO Racing) and Tom Redding (Nike).
In the Women’s race, Tan and Schneider finished well clear of the rest of the female competitors, with the former taking the win comfortably in the sprint and cutting her GC deficit to three seconds going into the concluding Stage 3.
So close, so far. The racers were mere metres from this stunning part of the Phang Nga coastline. (Photo courtesy Wasuwat Torkaew / Unfound)
Stage 3, 102km road race
Due to roadworks appearing last week on the epic course that the organisers had planned for Stage 3, a last-minute change had to be made. While this new two-lap affair was still of roughly the same distance at 102km, gone were the two killer climbs that had been set to try and break the fields up. While the replacement course was rarely flat, its climbs were of the rolling variety, and the KOM prime that was visited twice was a tiddler. Still, a 1km section of gravel left by some more unplanned roadworks added an extra bit of excitement.
In the Men’s Open race that gravel, which came quite early into the stage, strung the bunch out completely and caused more than a few riders to lose contact with the racing hardly started. The pace was fast and furious all day, but like on Stage 1, the Matadors were handling everything that was thrown at them.
However, with about 30km to go, a crash caused a split at the front. Initially just one, then two riders escaped but then five more bridged across to create a dangerous looking group that didn’t contain a Matador. Third-placed rider Jambaljants was among the leaders, though, and at just 11 seconds back from Thrall on the GC had a chance at the overall if the break could stay away. Compounding the threat for the Matadors was the presence in the break of two other top-10 riders, Paul Madden (Unfound CC) and Dimitry Murashko (Roojai.com Cycling Team)
And the break did stay away, but only just. As the seven leaders prepared for the sprint, there was no time for being cagey because the huge bunch could see them and was rapidly closing the gap. The attackers got their just rewards, though, and it was Valentin Midey (Bike Centre Phuket) who emerged victorious in the sprint, edging Madden into second place, with Pichet Peungraeng (Nich) in third.
Due to roadworks appearing last week on the epic course that the organisers had planned for Stage 3, a last-minute change had to be made. While this new two-lap affair was still of roughly the same distance at 102km, gone were the two killer climbs that had been set to try and break the fields up. While the replacement course was rarely flat, its climbs were of the rolling variety, and the KOM prime that was visited twice was a tiddler. Still, a 1km section of gravel left by some more unplanned roadworks added an extra bit of excitement.
In the Men’s Open race that gravel, which came quite early into the stage, strung the bunch out completely and caused more than a few riders to lose contact with the racing hardly started. The pace was fast and furious all day, but like on Stage 1, the Matadors were handling everything that was thrown at them.
However, with about 30km to go, a crash caused a split at the front. Initially just one, then two riders escaped but then five more bridged across to create a dangerous looking group that didn’t contain a Matador. Third-placed rider Jambaljants was among the leaders, though, and at just 11 seconds back from Thrall on the GC had a chance at the overall if the break could stay away. Compounding the threat for the Matadors was the presence in the break of two other top-10 riders, Paul Madden (Unfound CC) and Dimitry Murashko (Roojai.com Cycling Team)
And the break did stay away, but only just. As the seven leaders prepared for the sprint, there was no time for being cagey because the huge bunch could see them and was rapidly closing the gap. The attackers got their just rewards, though, and it was Valentin Midey (Bike Centre Phuket) who emerged victorious in the sprint, edging Madden into second place, with Pichet Peungraeng (Nich) in third.
Valentin Midey takes Stage 3 as the breakaway just held off the marauding peloton. (Photo courtesy of Unfound)
The bunch finished just six seconds back, and with Thrall leading it home, the overall win was his ... by less than two seconds! But the Canadian didn’t know he had won until the race director had done his calculations, which turned out to entail an agonising 30-minute wait. Thanks to making the break and snaring six bonus seconds, it was Madden who finished as runner-up on the final GC, with fellow escapee Jambaljants in third.
Matador Racing took the Men’s Open team title. Thrall was joined by Colin Mitchell, David Cheam, Michael Naert, Michael Kleinwort, Benedikt Schneider and Ben Farnsworth.
It was quite an impressive three-day performance from Thrall, a man who only took up cycling last year. He does have an athletic pedigree, though, having raced in the sport of flat water sprint Canoeing for over 10 years in Canada.
“It feels amazing [to have won this race],” said Thrall. “After three intense days of racing and hundreds of hours of hard training, it’s super rewarding for everything to come together at the right time. I owe a huge thank you to all my Matador Racing teammates who worked so hard this weekend to keep in the race. I could not have done it done it without them.”
But he admitted the immediate post-race wait was nerve wracking.
“There was a lot of uncertainty when I crossed line. The team and I were actually thinking we might have lost it because of the large gap and the potential sprint bonuses. With about 5km to go in the race, no other teams wanted to chase the breakaway, the Matador boys had already given it their all to keep me in contention, so I had to jump on the front and give everything I had to try and shrink the gap. It wasn’t until 30+ minutes after the race that we found out we did just enough to keep the GC title by 1.8 seconds. The small margin of victory really speaks to the high level of competition,” he said.
Matador Racing took the Men’s Open team title. Thrall was joined by Colin Mitchell, David Cheam, Michael Naert, Michael Kleinwort, Benedikt Schneider and Ben Farnsworth.
It was quite an impressive three-day performance from Thrall, a man who only took up cycling last year. He does have an athletic pedigree, though, having raced in the sport of flat water sprint Canoeing for over 10 years in Canada.
“It feels amazing [to have won this race],” said Thrall. “After three intense days of racing and hundreds of hours of hard training, it’s super rewarding for everything to come together at the right time. I owe a huge thank you to all my Matador Racing teammates who worked so hard this weekend to keep in the race. I could not have done it done it without them.”
But he admitted the immediate post-race wait was nerve wracking.
“There was a lot of uncertainty when I crossed line. The team and I were actually thinking we might have lost it because of the large gap and the potential sprint bonuses. With about 5km to go in the race, no other teams wanted to chase the breakaway, the Matador boys had already given it their all to keep me in contention, so I had to jump on the front and give everything I had to try and shrink the gap. It wasn’t until 30+ minutes after the race that we found out we did just enough to keep the GC title by 1.8 seconds. The small margin of victory really speaks to the high level of competition,” he said.
The conquering hero Thomas Thrall. (Photo courtesy of Recovery Systems)
“I really enjoyed the entire experience. This was my first stage race but, I thought the event was really well organised. A big thank you to all the amazing sponsors and staff who made the event a success,” said Thrall, who amazingly only started cycling in May last year and it was October before he started training at a competitive level.
“My first road bike was an anniversary gift from my wife. Little did she know what this hobby would evolve into,” said the Canadian. “At first I started riding for general fitness with no intentions to race but it wasn’t until we relocated to Singapore in October that I was pushed by David Ho and the West Coast Riders group to ride with Matador Racing.”
There was more last-minute drama in the Masters race as third-placed GC man Tzivelekas bridged to another long solo escape from that man LeCornu with some 35km to go. The big team 4T2 rider then dropped the Mavericks man and pushed on strongly for home. He was soon out of sight, and with race leader Barbier only having one teammate to help, he must have been getting nervous. Tzivelekas duly won the stage in style, but while his winning gap to the reduced bunch of some 20 riders was an impressive 42 seconds, it wasn’t enough to overall Barbier. He did leapfrog Lloyd into second overall, though. Lloyd, meanwhile, took his third runner’s-up stage spot in as many days, which earned him that GC position two, while Lenny Burke (Nich) claimed the final Stage 3 podium spot in third.
The Specialized Roval Mavericks septet of Lecornu, David Wilkins, Matt Lodge, Chris Reynolds, Richard Paine and Jody Chapman won the Masters team title.
“My first road bike was an anniversary gift from my wife. Little did she know what this hobby would evolve into,” said the Canadian. “At first I started riding for general fitness with no intentions to race but it wasn’t until we relocated to Singapore in October that I was pushed by David Ho and the West Coast Riders group to ride with Matador Racing.”
There was more last-minute drama in the Masters race as third-placed GC man Tzivelekas bridged to another long solo escape from that man LeCornu with some 35km to go. The big team 4T2 rider then dropped the Mavericks man and pushed on strongly for home. He was soon out of sight, and with race leader Barbier only having one teammate to help, he must have been getting nervous. Tzivelekas duly won the stage in style, but while his winning gap to the reduced bunch of some 20 riders was an impressive 42 seconds, it wasn’t enough to overall Barbier. He did leapfrog Lloyd into second overall, though. Lloyd, meanwhile, took his third runner’s-up stage spot in as many days, which earned him that GC position two, while Lenny Burke (Nich) claimed the final Stage 3 podium spot in third.
The Specialized Roval Mavericks septet of Lecornu, David Wilkins, Matt Lodge, Chris Reynolds, Richard Paine and Jody Chapman won the Masters team title.
The guests at a rural wedding had a series of unexpected guests during Stage 3. (Photo courtesy Wasuwat Torkaew / Unfound)
In the Super Masters/Veterans/Women’s race, nothing could get away despite non-stop attacks from all quarters and a big bunch was still together as they approached the finish. Then with some 3km to go, race leader Carter launched an extremely long effort for home. He opened up a huge gap and it looked like he might stay away as initially nobody in the bunch wanted to take responsibility for the chase. But eventually the cohesion came and Carter was reeled in, completely spent.
At the 500m to go sign, Ames also decided to take the long approach and it was a mighty effort, but Stage 2 winner Pearson was glued to his wheel and came round in the closing metres to take the stage win and the overall title thanks to the 10 bonus seconds. His winning margin was less than a second from Carter. Hancock took another runners-up spot, while Ames held on for third place on the day, which thanks to the four bonus seconds, moved him into third on the GC.
The Specialized Roval Mavericks trio of Ames, Grant and Alan Benson took the Super Masters team title.
There were quite a few Veterans and Women racers still with the lead group as Stage 3 concluded, and as the dust settled in the combined sprint, it emerged that Olsen had claimed his second stage win of the race, edging Williamson into second, with Stephen Wong (Anza Cycling) in third. Herries took the Veterans overall title comfortably, with Redding in second and Earnshaw third.
The Women’s finale saw a head-to-head, winner-take-all sprint battle between race leader Schneider and Tan. It was the young Singaporean who proved to be the strongest and with the stage victory came the bonus seconds required to clinch the overall crown. But it was another tight affair, with the winning margin one crucial second. Michelle Xia (Nike) finished third on the day and the in same position on the final GC.
At the 500m to go sign, Ames also decided to take the long approach and it was a mighty effort, but Stage 2 winner Pearson was glued to his wheel and came round in the closing metres to take the stage win and the overall title thanks to the 10 bonus seconds. His winning margin was less than a second from Carter. Hancock took another runners-up spot, while Ames held on for third place on the day, which thanks to the four bonus seconds, moved him into third on the GC.
The Specialized Roval Mavericks trio of Ames, Grant and Alan Benson took the Super Masters team title.
There were quite a few Veterans and Women racers still with the lead group as Stage 3 concluded, and as the dust settled in the combined sprint, it emerged that Olsen had claimed his second stage win of the race, edging Williamson into second, with Stephen Wong (Anza Cycling) in third. Herries took the Veterans overall title comfortably, with Redding in second and Earnshaw third.
The Women’s finale saw a head-to-head, winner-take-all sprint battle between race leader Schneider and Tan. It was the young Singaporean who proved to be the strongest and with the stage victory came the bonus seconds required to clinch the overall crown. But it was another tight affair, with the winning margin one crucial second. Michelle Xia (Nike) finished third on the day and the in same position on the final GC.
Women's overall winner Chelsea Tan stands tall on the top spot of the podium. (Photo courtesy of Unfound)
The Matador Racing squad of Schneider, Carmela Pearson, Anna Symms and Shirley Teo took the women’s team title to complete an impressive haul for the Singapore-based team over the weekend; three GC wins, six stage wins, three podiums and two team titles.
Women’s champ Tan was satisfied with her weekend’s work.
“I feel very happy to have won my first race of the season, it’s pretty good news to get this result and find out that my performance and fitness is right on track,” said Tan, who admitted to a few pre-race nerves before Stage 3. `
“But the first thing I do in the morning when I wake up is see how my muscles feel and today they were all pretty good, so I was quite confident when I was on the starting line. Then you just have to keep a look out for the other girls coming up and I thought it would all come down to the sprint finish there,” she said.
“The Tour of Phuket is a great race and I think the course is very good for me personally. It’s a bit hilly and a bit punchy, just the kind of terrain I like. The organisation was really good too, no complaints.”
Tan has a busy race schedule coming up, including a tilt at the Asian Cycling Championships (ACC).
“I have a criterium next week in KL, then the following week I have Tour de Bintan, then the following week is Tour of Thailand and then the ACC in Uzbekistan.
Is she going to win a medal for Singapore at the Asian champs?
“I don’t know, it’s a very tough field, so we’ll have to see,” she said with a laugh and big smile.
Women’s champ Tan was satisfied with her weekend’s work.
“I feel very happy to have won my first race of the season, it’s pretty good news to get this result and find out that my performance and fitness is right on track,” said Tan, who admitted to a few pre-race nerves before Stage 3. `
“But the first thing I do in the morning when I wake up is see how my muscles feel and today they were all pretty good, so I was quite confident when I was on the starting line. Then you just have to keep a look out for the other girls coming up and I thought it would all come down to the sprint finish there,” she said.
“The Tour of Phuket is a great race and I think the course is very good for me personally. It’s a bit hilly and a bit punchy, just the kind of terrain I like. The organisation was really good too, no complaints.”
Tan has a busy race schedule coming up, including a tilt at the Asian Cycling Championships (ACC).
“I have a criterium next week in KL, then the following week I have Tour de Bintan, then the following week is Tour of Thailand and then the ACC in Uzbekistan.
Is she going to win a medal for Singapore at the Asian champs?
“I don’t know, it’s a very tough field, so we’ll have to see,” she said with a laugh and big smile.
The Matador Racing Men's Open team enjoying the full effects of the Singha spray! (Photo courtesy of Unfound)
To have such small winning margins in three of the five competitive categories shows what an exciting weekend of racing was had. But just as importantly, the racing was conducted in a good sporting manner and the on-course management saw a marked improvement from 2018. Each of the three racing pelotons, as well as the fourth bunch containing the Gran Fondo riders, had experienced commissaries and a squad of motorbike marshals keeping the racers safe, on track and well-watered. And just in case the odd rider did get dropped from his or peloton, hard-to-miss directional signage and/or officers from the Royal Thai Police were deployed at crucial junctions.
The racing was hard but fair, and the camaraderie that existed within the body of the competitors was exemplified by the carnival vibe that prevailed at all three post-stage prize-giving ceremonies. This of course may have been aided by title sponsor Singha being extremely generous with its wares. And who needs champagne on the podium when you can have the Singha spray! The prizes too were worthy of the great performances, with Garmin and Recovery Systems donating top-range products to the category winners. Kudos too to Camelbak for supplying hundreds of bidons.
Race director Kent McCallum of Cycosports was happy and perhaps just a bit relieved with how things went this year.
“We are very pleased with the tour this year. With the support of Singha and all the other sponsors we could deliver an experience that went beyond our expectations. We are already looking forward to doing even better in 2020,” McCallum said.
Go to www.cycosports.com for full results of the 2019 Singha Tour of Phuket and download the Unfound.cc app for access to most of the photos illustrating this article and hundreds more.
The racing was hard but fair, and the camaraderie that existed within the body of the competitors was exemplified by the carnival vibe that prevailed at all three post-stage prize-giving ceremonies. This of course may have been aided by title sponsor Singha being extremely generous with its wares. And who needs champagne on the podium when you can have the Singha spray! The prizes too were worthy of the great performances, with Garmin and Recovery Systems donating top-range products to the category winners. Kudos too to Camelbak for supplying hundreds of bidons.
Race director Kent McCallum of Cycosports was happy and perhaps just a bit relieved with how things went this year.
“We are very pleased with the tour this year. With the support of Singha and all the other sponsors we could deliver an experience that went beyond our expectations. We are already looking forward to doing even better in 2020,” McCallum said.
Go to www.cycosports.com for full results of the 2019 Singha Tour of Phuket and download the Unfound.cc app for access to most of the photos illustrating this article and hundreds more.