Matt Brammeier in the red climbers' jersey on the podium after the first stage of the Tour de Langkawi, with stage winner Duber Quintero (Colombia) in yellow and Goh Choon Haut the best Asian rider.
Irish national road race champion, Matt Brammeier has gotten his season off to a very strong start, taking 2nd place and the lead in the climbers’ classification after the opening stage of the Tour de Langkawi in the early hours of the morning Irish time.
The new Synergy Baku rider was among a five-man escape that proved to be the winning move of the day. And while he was fancied to take the stage when it became clear the strongest in the group were not going to be caught, a bout of cramp in the last 10km limited his chances of responding to the attacks of his rivals as the finish approached.
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In the end it was his fellow escapee Duber Quintero of the Colombia team who attacked and rode solo to the stage victory, his first win as a pro, and the leader’s yellow jersey in the 10-day 2.HC stage race.
It was Brammeier’s best result since finishing in 2nd place on a stage of the Tour of Austria three years ago, although he has taken the national road title the past four years in a row and won a pro kermesse in Belgium last year.
His capturing a classification leader’s jersey is also a great boost for him and his Synergy Baku team, for whom success in Asia is important from a commercial point of view.
Brammeier said after the stage that while he was disappointed not to win, the result was nonetheless a strong start to the season.
“I felt really good all race and was pretty confident I could win in a sprint,” he said.
“I can normally get a good sprint out but can't really ride hard for long with cramp. The other guys marked me out a little so it was hard to try and cover everything.
“Quintero attacked with around 1.5km to go and my legs started to buckle. The other guys wouldn't help with the chase.
“I'd like to say I'm happy but I'm not. I did everything right and rode a perfect race but I suffered bad cramps in the last 30kms. I've suffered with cramp since I started cycling, always on the first day of a stage race. I've looked hard but never really found the reason or answer.”
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Today’s opening stage was just 101km and when Brammeier got clear in the escape early, it quickly became clear the chase behind was not what it might be and that the escapees would have their day.
As well as the Irish champion and stage winner Quintero, the escape included Australian Jonathan Clarke of Unitedhealthcare, Anwar Aziz (Terengganu) riding his home tour and Singapore man Chon Huat Goh.
Despite the very short stage, the five out front gained a whopping seven minutes after getting their heads down immediately. Orica GreenEdge was among only one or two teams with any interest in chasing, along with Fluo Yellow.
Their stints on the front were short, and while two minutes was shaved off the break’s lead, the air went out of the peloton’s balloon at that stage.
A slowing breakaway and more urgency in the bunch in the latter portion of the stage saw the gap tumble, but the best of the breakaway still had one minute to spare at the finish in Langkawi.
Aziz was caught but the others stayed clear, with Quintero attacking and pulling 11 seconds out of Brammeier, who beat Quintero into 3rd.
The stage winner took all three intermediate sprints along the way and so has a margin of 22 seconds on general classification. It is Clarke rather than Brammeier who is 2nd overall; the Australian having come off better than the Irish champion in the sprints along the way.
However, Brammeier was best in the contest for climbers’ classification points and takes that jersey into the 132.5km stage 2.
While the race climbs to Genting Highlands on Saturday, the rest of the stages are mainly flat and should suit Brammeier who is clearly in good form.
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