Platt wins stage and retains overall lead

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Team Bulls' Karl Platt of Germany and Switzerland's Vivienne Meyer of Colnago Farbe Sudtirol conquered Langkawi's highest peak to take stage 4 of the Langkawi International Mountainbike Challenge (LIMBC) 2011.

Men's race leader Platt took home the polka dot jersey as King of the Hill despite crossing the line on top of Gunung Raya, 838 metres above sea level, second to Australia's Don McConnell.

McConnell's victory was nullified as he had earlier been disqualified by the UCI panel of commissaires headed by Max Mager. The Australian cyclist did not start the cross country marathon that was stage 1, making him ineligible to compete in the remaining stages. He was, however, unaware of the disqualification which had been relayed over the communique.

Platt who won stage 2 at Kampung Tok Senik Resort, was credited with a time of 1:03:57. Second was South Africa's stage 1 winner Burry Stander of Specialized in 1:03.58, and Italy's Johnny Cattaneo of Full Dynamix 1:04.00.

"All along I wanted to keep pace with the leaders. It was a good ride up the mountain, I'm happy to have won the jersey. Tomorrow, with a short distance criterium, I am optimistic of landing the overall title," said Platt.

While Platt kept the yellow leader's jersey for a third successive day, Colnago Farbe Sudtirol rider Nathalie Schneitter of Switzerland also maintained her spot on top of the women's elite general classification after finishing second behind her compatriot and teammate, Vivienne Meyer, at Gunung Raya.

Both Meyer and Schneitter were bunched together with some of the elite men's riders en route to the top before Meyer upped the tempo to carve a comfortable lead in the last three kilometres.

"I'm happy that our team has managed a one-two finish for the third time, and for the fourth consecutive day, a stage title has gone to our rider," said Colnago trainer Edmund Telser.

In stage 4, two British pro road cyclists, Chris Froome and Adam Blythe, joined the action for the day. Froome and Blythe clocked 1:04.08 and 1:24.31, respectively, but were not placed on the race classification because they did not compete in the other stages.

The top local rider in the elite men's division was Ahmad Fauzan Lutfi while Masziyaton Mohd Radzi remains the top local elite women's rider.

LIMBC 2011 draws to a close on Saturday with a cross country criterium at Stadium Langkawi, with a lap distance of 1.94km per lap and 45 minutes of racing for each category.

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