Wang climbs to victory atop Cameron Highlands

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Meiyin Wang took his biggest career victory to date when he crossed the finish line minutes ahead of the field in the Cameron Highlands. Wang, who rides for the Chinese-based Hengxiang Cycling Team started the day in third overall, just 20 seconds down on race leader Theo Bos (Blanco) and now looks to be a serious contender for the overall title.

Wang had the determination to enter the day's early breakaway before he went about dispatching his breakaway companions with still more than 40km of climbing remaining. Wearing the white jersey as the best Asian rider the peloton clearly underestimated the highly talented 24-year-old who crossed the line with plenty of time to the nearest rider Julian Arredondo (Team Nippo - De Rosa) who almost two and a half minutes ahead. Nathan Haas (Garmin Sharp) was the best of the chase group who came in over three minutes behind the new race leader.

Despite a concerted chase from the bigger teams behind Wang was simply too strong on the demanding stage which climbed the Hors Category ascent to the town of Brinchang, topping-out at over 1,500m. Powering his way to the finish Wang was clearly overwhelmed with the day's result which would see him move into the overall race lead as well as consolidate his lead in the KOM and points classification.

"This is the greatest day of my life," said Wang through a translator. "I just tried to do my best. I wanted to show myself today for Chinese cycling.

"I didn't think I could win today's stage but my feelings were very good. I had to time trial for more than 40k's. In the last 5k's I really wanted to win.

"We are a small team and everybody doesn't know us and that we could win a stage. They also don't know me and that's why I think I could win [today]. I was very lucky today," said a humble Wang.

Asked about the real chance of becoming the first Asian rider to win the overall title and whether his team could defend yellow Wang was unsure of what to expect in the coming days. His Hengxiang team is one of the lesser-known outfits in the race and believed the other professional teams would assist them to control the rhythm of the race. 

"Our team will try for the final GC but we don't know about tomorrow. I think other pro teams will also want to take the final GC so we can maybe work together. We don't think we can win the final yellow [jersey] but we can try."

The main group led in by Haas was surprised to lose so much time to the day's winner but was upbeat about his performance on the day that saw both himself and teammate Peter Stetina finish in the front group after working hard to try and contain Wang.

"It's a very interesting race," said Haas just moments after crossing the finish line in third-place.

"The breakaway was under control, setting a really solid tempo up that climb with 40k to go and all of a sudden it went from five to six to seven to eight [minutes]," said Haas in relation to the time gaps given to the chasing group.

"It was a great ride to hold off. That was a hard day. This season I'm trying to come into it as a different rider, one of experience and enthusiasm. I knew I was going to do well today," he said.

Haas also added that his Garmin Sharp team, including Stetina would continue to perform strongly in the coming days. Haas was unaware of the exact time gap to the new race leader at the time but believed the stage to Genting Highlands would once again change the overall classification.

"I'm not sure what today indicates but I'm really confident in myself and our climber Pete Stetina," said Haas.

"Our team was superb today with positioning, commanding respect in the bunch and I think we have a good shot to win - as long as we can get over this guy [Wang].

"We are there and we're aggressive riders so we'll see what we can do," he added.

A cold and misty ascent to Cameron Highlands

The entire 132-rider peloton signed on for the start of Stage 3 from Sungai Siput to the Cameron Highlands with the 140.7km route presenting those with ambitions for the general classification a taste of things to come - ahead of the more decisive stage to Genting.

The town of Binchang would play host to the finish of the gruelling stage which would take the riders from near sea level to the top of the Hors Category climb situated 1,500m above sea level. The first half of the stage was more or less flat with the second part of the stage steadily climbing over some 60-odd kilometres.

There were plenty of riders keen to go on the attack today and it was the Singapore-based OCBC and Korean KSPO teams that were the first to put riders up the road. A five-man group formed after approximately 12km and they quickly went about opening up a sizeable lead on the main field.

The group contained two riders from OCBC, the team which has been in the main break every day since the start of the tour and were represented by Seo Keong Loh and Junrong Ho while the remaining riders were Harrif Saleh (Terrengganu), Joon Yong Seo (KSPO) and Meiyin Wang (Henxiang). The four teams represented in the group have been active in the breakaways thus far and were obviously keen to do so on one of the tough stages of the tour.

Three intermediate sprints gave the attackers a chance to pick up a haul of sprint points with Loh (OCBC) easily taking the first one into Ipoh at the 27.8km point. Loh, known for his attacking style across the Asia circuit was clearly enjoying the time out front and gave a celebratory salute shortly after crossing the sprint line.

The second sprint at 59.9km was taken by Saleh (TSG) with Loh (OCBC), Seo (KSPO) and Wang closely behind. The third and final sprint of the day came shortly before the start of the first Cat 1 climb was again taken by Saleh. The Terrengganu sprinter has come close to winning stages at Langkawi in past editions and should be up there on a number of the following sprint stages.

Wang was the best placed rider in the break and started the day in third overall at 11 seconds behind the yellow jersey wearer Bos (Blanco). The peloton were obviously unfazed by the position of Wang, allowing him more than 12 minutes advantage by the bottom of the Cameron Highlands climb.

Wang however, soon found himself alone after the road headed upwards and still had around 10 minutes advantage over the field. But with almost 40km of climbing to go, it would be a tough ask for him to stay away. A concerted chase from the bigger teams behind would only serve to whittle down the select front group while Wang continued to climb alone out front.

With 20km to go Wang still had some 8 minutes in hand and looked strong. His determination would not be dampened by the drizzly conditions towards the top and while the bunch had been reduced to thirty-odd riders Wang could not be reached.

At the finish he had plenty of time to enjoy what is the biggest result of his young career, beating the high-profile ProTeam and Pro-Continental riders in a manner that now makes him a real threat to become the first Asian rider to win the overall title at the 2.HC Malaysian race.

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