Stage 2 – Laclubar to Beacu - 12 September

Search 2 Retain pull ahead after Mather, Jackson flat

The second stage of the 2011 Tour de Timor has been taken out by Luke Fetch and Paul van der Ploeg in 4h12:10 and 4h12:11. The duo entered Beaco together, victorious having won the days battle for ascendancy. The pair was able to get 13 minutes and 25 seconds ahead of yesterday’s winner, Adrian Jackson, who along with his team mate Ben Mather, flatted early in the race. Tinker Juarez has been continuing his strong run of form with a third place finish.

Fetch spoke about his victory telling how “AJ and Ben Mather pretty much had the pace on from the gun, we had about 6 guys in the bunch, until AJ punctured. Ben stopped with AJ and we were able to get away.” Compared to stage one Fetch explained that “the pace started off a lot harder, there was quite a lot of climbing to do, a bit of wind, it definitely wasn’t an easy stage”.

Jackson finished in 6th with a time of 4h25:45 after having punctured at the 14km mark “Yeah I had a flat, I mean it wasn’t too bad, we changed it pretty quickly; me and Ben stopped because he is my team mate. We got going again but soon after that Ben got a flat as well so then I was on my own having to chase down the group of three up the road who would have been working as hard as they could”.

“I’m sure I’m out of the top three now.” Lamented Jackson who continued saying “Paul and Luke will be working with their team to hold their places, it’s hard when it is me and Ben working against four other guys, we’ll try our best.”

Paul van der Ploeg was philosophical about finishing behind team-mate Fetch, “yeah second again, but it was more about the exposure, getting our team across the line. We both deserved it today.” And he continues to be impressed by the strength of the field: “at the very start we were going at the same pace that I race the world cup cross-country, it was very fast. It is sort of a gamble with cross-country because Adrian flatted and we just had to keep the pace from there”.

Tinker Juarez who finished in 4h23:30, was similarly taken aback by the pace of the Tour so far. “I just knew that today was going to be a tough day, I think I did a little too much yesterday pushing it too hard. I think today was harder, much harder”.

Talking about the crowd support Juarez explained that “It’s about the only thing that could keep me motivated, the people were really, really fun to see, even having my worst day I still love to see the kids and wave to them. At least I can take that positive away.”

Mohd Razif Mohd Salleh continued his strong run of form at the top of the Malaysian team, finishing 9th with a time of 4h46, while Shahrin Amir and Muhamad Fauzan Ahmad finished 12 and 15 respectively. Nelson Silva also continued to be the top Portuguese national with his 11th placing.

The women’s team “Nothing Good Can Come of This” continued their strong run of form, with Katherine O’Shea, Naomi Hansen and Peta Mullens arriving in a group of approximately 10 riders to finish.

Orlando da Costa also came in the group of 10 riders in a time of 5h07:45. He told of his brother Jacinto’s problems with his shoes that kept him out of the contention for top Timorese rider. “It was hard today, but I was happy to work in the group that I had”. Also in Da Costa’s group were the top four female riders, Neil van der Ploeg and the Indonesian rider Sokianto who came in with his team.

Sugianto Binjai was the first Indonesian to finish. In his first Tour de Timor said that “the course is really good, although the wind is really strong”. Binjai was thoroughly impressed with the race, saying “My own feeling is that this Tour is really good, when I go back to Indonesia I definitely want to tell the other riders to come, I will invite them to participate in next year’s; it has been awesome”.

Katherine O’Shea “there was four of us (women) together today. We kinda had the upper hand because we had three of our team members with us . We really just wanted to cover Peta and keep her in GC; we just want to make sure we secure those top three GC spots”. Melinda Jackson of team Trailmix came in second open female. The 122km stage was characterised by downhill from the mountains to the South Coast. Rough roads outof the mountains continued throughout the route making for difficult going for the riders. Sections of flat, mostly sealed surface allowed some speed for riders after passing the Viqueque river, but by and large this has been a stage that most cyclists are happy to have behind them. Tomorrows ride of 69km will provide welcome respite for many.

Beaco is a small village on the South Coast of Timor. It is part of the Viqueque district and looks out across the Timor Sea towards Australia. The village is the site of several Portuguese era buildings including a church and a trading post. Although the beach itself looks inviting, word from the locals is to keep out of the water: crocodiles abound.

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