| Mizurov fires his last shot to clinch the overall title |
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| By Paul Verkuylen, in Huzhu, China |
A race can often be won or lost in a split second. Not being able to follow an attack at a deciding moment of a race, or it could be something as simple as making an error in judgement while descending. The overall win at the 2009 Tour of Qinghai Lake was not won or lost in a split second, it happened over the course of the past nine days, but today it was set in stone.
Nine days ago in a small town nestled at the foot of some of the worlds tallest mountains, Andrey Mizurov blasted his way around the short prologue circuit to take an early lead and the first yellow jersey on offer. Since that day Mizurov has not let that jersey out of his sight. He didn't just defend his small margin gained in the prologue by following wheels, he attacked the race and built on his advantage each and every chance he could.
Today the Kazakh came full circle, for the finish line of the eight stage was the very same one used as the start line for the prologue, and once again it was Mizurov who crossed the line with the fastest time. He didn't win the stage – that honour went to his Tabriz – Petrochemicals team-mate Ghadar Mizbani Iranagh, but his efforts in today's stage did secure him the overall win, barring any accidents in tomorrows final street race in Xining, that is.
Yesterday Mizurov expressed his disappointment with the long flat run into the finish after the hors category climb which he dominated, but hinted that today's stage profile suited him better. So as the race approached the final climb of the tour, each and every rider in the race, knew which wheel to be on if they harboured any hopes of a stage win.
But there was nothing anyone could do, except of course Mizbani, when Mizurov dropped the hammer and rode off into the distance on the hairpins at the base of the climb.
The pair of team-mates knew what they had to do: with Mizbani sitting in fourth overall, just 40 seconds off second place, they had to drive the pace on the climb, descend like demons before driving it to the finish, at least 40 seconds clear of Mitja Mahoric.
This is exactly what they did.
Mizbani crossed the line in first, Mizurov on his wheel, there was no time for a victory salute as each second counted.
“We were thinking only about the seconds, not the victory,” was how Mizbani explained it.
Next they waited. In the distance Mahoric and his Slovenian team-mate Jure Kocjan were driving it as fast as they could. Earlier, there were four, but an untimely crash, just three kilometres into the descent, by Radoslav Rogina (Loborika) and Niklas Axelsson (Utensilnord) meant that the race would come down to an even two on two battle.
Mahoric crossed the line in third, 38 seconds in arrears. It was close, so close in fact that if Mizbani hadn't crossed the line first and received the 10 second time bonus, Mahoric would have held onto his second place. But Mizbani did, and Mahoric didn't.
Mizurov had set his win in stone, and Mizbani made it a historic one-two for the Iranian team, which has been close, but never the winner of the Tour of Qinghai Lake. Mahoric was left contemplating what could have been if only Rogina and Axelsson hadn't crashed.
“Today's second consecutive stage in the mountains was good for our team. The team worked for me, and I worked for the team – for second place,” a delighted Mizurov explained.
Mizbani, who sat next to his leader waiting for the presentation, was no where near as good at concealing his happiness in a job well done.
“Last year the team also won the teams classification, but this year we have the teams classification, the mountains jersey, the Asian riders jersey and the overall win.
“We are happy, very happy,” the veteran of seven Tour's of Qinghai Lake and new leader in the mountains classification explained.
Indeed they should be. The Iranian Tabriz Petrochemicals team hadn't made a wrong move in the past nine days. They attacked the race at every opportunity, and were dully awarded for their efforts.
Mahoric had also ridden a brilliant race, but unfortunately the Slovenian and his team were unable to get the better of an in form Tabriz team.
“I am very disappointed,” he said, sitting dejectedly waiting for the stage presentation.
“We climbed with Rogina tactically. We knew that when Mizurov attacked, that our team is strong and that we could catch them on the descent.
“But just three kilometres into the descent Rogina and Axelsson fell. It was at that point that the race was over,” he explained.
Still, with two stage wins, and a strong showing in all of the stages, the Slovenian team can hold their heads high.
All done bar the shouting
A depleted peloton of just 104 riders will line up tomorrow for the final stage, a circuit race around the city of Xining, but for all intents and purposes, the final stage is merely a formality. A procession for the general public to cheer on the heroes of the eighth edition of the tour for one last time.
It is possible that things can change, but as with most of the worlds biggest stage races, it is a gentlemen's agreement which will see no changes in the overall classification.
That's not to say that there wont be any real racing.
With a number of intermediate sprints and corresponding points on offer, we may well see Kocjan (Slovenia) attempt to wrestle the green jersey from Rogina's shoulders.
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| Stage
Map&Profile |
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Prologue(ITT) |
| 1st |
Xining-Ping'an-Zhaba-Tongren |
| 2nd |
Tongren-Bao'an-Xunhua |
| 3rd |
Xunhua-Zhaba-Ping'an-Xining |
| 4th |
Xining(DuobaBase)-Qinghai Lake |
| 5th |
Qinghai Lake-Bird Island |
| 6th |
Bird Island-Xihaizhen |
| 7th |
Xihaizhen-Menyuan |
| 8th |
Menyuan-Huzhu |
| 9th |
XN Circuit Race |
| Route
Map |
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