Stander wins opening stage in Langkawi

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South Africa's Burry Stander and Swiss rider Nathalie Schneitter lived up to their top billing as they won the stage 1 marathon in their respective categories at the Langkawi International Mountainbike Challenge 2011 on Tuesday.

In a dramatic tussle to the finish line between two of the top-ranked riders in the peloton, Stander outsprinted Germany's Karl Platt of Team Bulls to stop the clock at 2:24:21 in Langkawi Stadium.

Stander, who came accompanied by his father Charles, was ecstatic with the excellent start.

"The first hour of the race was quite a struggle for me, but it was an interesting race on an interesting course. It's a great start and a close finish," said Stander.

"I'm still feeling jet-lagged and trying to cope with the weather as it was like racing on high altitude but overall, to win stage 1 is a wonderful feeling," said Stander, who bagged the Cape Epic title, the African championship and the South African national championship earlier this year.

Platt, Germany's three-time Cape Epic champ was a wheel-length behind Stander, followed by France's former European champ Thomas Dietsch who came in third in 2:26.12.

For Team Colnago Fabre Sudtirol, it was a good day in the office as Schneitter crossed the finish line just ahead of teammate Vivienne Meyer.

Schneitterwas pleased with her victory. "It's always great to win. Getting a one-two finish was a great start. As for stage 2, I look forward to maintaining my position. Having trained on the course, I liked it and I expect an interesting race tomorrow (today)," said Schneitter.

Malaysia's top finisher was former road cyclist Fauzan Lutfi, who clocked 2:50.03.2 to finish 25th.

The race was flagged off at the start by honorary race patron, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad at the Langkawi Sports Complex here.

Stage 1 and General classification afters stage 1 results