GENTING HIGHLANDS: Team Nippo-De Rosa climb specialist from Colombia, Julian David Arredondo Moreno conquered the treacherous terrains of Genting Highlands in rainy and cool weather conditions to claim Stage five, here yesterday.
In the race which started from the Proton Excellence Centre in Shah Alam to Genting Highlands, over a 110.30km distance, Arredondo Moreno pipped Dutchman Pieter Weening of Orica GreenEdge and Colombia’s Victor Nino Corredor of RTS Racing Team to win the race.
Arredondo Moreno, 25, took three hours, 11 minutes and 41 seconds to complete the race, just 26 seconds ahead of Weening.
“Our team strategy for today was just to wait and see, particularly on how the race leader (Wang Meiyin of Hengxiang Cycling Team) was behaving. When he was down, my team started the attack and I managed to win today’s race and the Yellow jersey.
“This is my best win and I hope for a better success this year,” he said.
After stage 5, Arredondo Moreno accumulated 17’43:20s, just 01:22s ahead of Weening to claim the Yellow Jersey as current general classification leader.
“I had a good lead and my team was able to control the race. We will try to maintain the jersey. I want to win this race (overall champion),” he added.
Besides the stage win and the Yellow jersey, he also snatched the Red Jersey (King of Mountain) from Wang by a mere one point difference since Arredondo Moreno collected 45 points against Wang’s 44 points.
Meanwhile, Wang felt disappointed when he had to give up the Yellow jersey to Arredondo Moreno. — Bernama