Luke Fetch wins the 2011 Tour de Timor

Stage 5 – Com to Manatuto

Muhammad Fauzan Ahmad Lutfi of team Malaysia arrived in Manatuto in 4h11:23. Matt King of Skytrans came in second in 4h12:47 as part of a three-man chase group with Ashley Hayat of Fitzroy Revolution in 4:12:50 and Ben Mather of Rapid Cycling in 4:12:54, trying to catch Fauzan.

Fauzan said of his race: “I’m really tired, this is the furthest stage yet. Today I thought it was good to put some pressure on the other riders, I felt good. At the first KOM they were just pushing themselves hard, I just followed them, stayed with the pack. At the second KOM I decided to break away from everyone and I had to go alone because all of my other team mates were tired”.

“My target today was to win a stage so I’m glad I did it”. Fauzan himself is new to Mountain Biking, being more of a road racer. “I knew I had an advantage on this stage because there was a lot more road racing.” “I will probably try to win tomorrow’s stage, my other team mates would like to do that as well”.

King was full of admiration for Fauzan, “Today the Malaysian dude was just so strong, going up the last KOM he rode away from us and we didn’t give him much of a gap but he just held us the whole way. It was absolutely gutsy ride from him, it was well deserved, very well deserved.” “I’ve loved the whole Tour it has been absolutely brilliant, the guys have organised it absolutely superbly, top marks it has been awesome”.

Ashley Hayat came in “Third today, I was donated a third. So the Malaysian guy had won and we had three in the bunch chasing, I was pretty wrecked, Ben (Mather) was really strong but he’d already had a win so he offered me the podium place, it was very generous of him.” Hayat has had a better day today, and is looking forward to the final stage. “Tomorrow will be nice, cruise back to Dili, lots of noise, lots of screaming fans”

Tinker Juarez was again amongst the top in a time of 4h16:12 as part of the first major group approximately five and a half minutes behind the winner. “The roads were about the best you could ask for in this kind of racing, it was so smooth, the whole day gave us some rest” said Juarez. “My strategy was to just stay with the peloton, we were trying to catch the breakaways, but at one point they caught us off guard, we got as close as about a minute, by the time we got our water and did everything they were gone so we really blew our chances, the other group was already long gone so we shut it off and just rode a group together”.

“I think I blew my chances in the King of the Mountains, there are three strong guys just blazing up the hill like it’s a downhill.” “I’m thinking now I just want to have a good day tomorrow so I can be happy”.
Orlando da Costa was again first of the Timorese males with a time of 4h30:49 in 30th place. He was closely followed by brother Jacinto da Costa and team mate Antonio Martins.Ahmad Yani of team Merpati Indonesia came in top Indonesian and in 20th place overall in the second major group arriving 11 minutes after the breakaway. “I’m getting more tired with each stage, and with 140 kilometres, plus the heat and strong winds, I just stayed with the pack. I just kept my energy by keeping with the pack.”

On Timor, Yani continued to be impressed with the country “This stage is different to the others, I thought the beaches were really nice. I was really surprised to see how nice people were even though they knew I was Indonesian.”

Melinda Jackson from Team Trailmix was the first of the women with at time of 4:37:49. “The first 70km we were with a bunch of about 60 men and it was pretty easy riding” “And then the KOM started and it all just blew apart, like we knew it would then, so from then on it was just Kath and I up the hill and we hurt ourselves a lot.” “Earlier Peta flatted, it was really unlucky, as we were climbing the KOM Naomi had a derailleur off her bike and was changing her hanger.

“The locals are already so crazy here, they just go nuts, the atmosphere will be amazing, I’m really looking forward to it”

The ride today is the longest in Tour de Timor history at 142km. The road is mostly good-quality, sealed bitumen, including the 10km hill climb through Baucau before heading back down to the coast to stop over in Manatuto.Manatuto is capital of the sub-district and district, also named Manatuto. It is known for its pottery, salt production and the amazing diving along the coast line back towards Dili. Riders will tomorrow be retracing their voyage from the first day of the Tour when they head back along the same stretch of coast before a special tour of Dili’s bairos.

Stage 6 – Manatuto to Dili

The President of East Timor José Ramos-Horta congratulated Australian Luke Fetch, who has taken out the 2011 Tour de Timor open male title, crossing the finish line today as part of the main peloton. Retaining the yellow jersey, Fetch (Search 2 Retain) held off the strong competition to take home the US$10,000 prize money. Peta Mullens took out the open women’s title after another strong finish in today’s final stage.

Dr Ramos-Horta saw riders descending an incredibly challenging section of the day’s route, which stretched over some 8 kms of dry riverbed from a bridge overlooking the race. Making his way back to the finish line in his trademark mini-moke he greeted the crowds and riders: “Today has been spectacular, despite the challenges experienced this race has become a great success. Next year I want the Tour de Timor to visit the final district that the race has not passed through: Oekussi. If it is possible perhaps we will celebrate the ten year anniversary of Timor-Leste’s Restoration of Independence with a race that will visit Kupang, Atambua and and Ambeno in Oekussi.”

Today’s stage was taken out by Malaysia’s Muhammad Fauzan Ahmad Lutfi who finished with a time of 2h37:34, followed by Neil van der Ploeg and Ashley Hayat in 2h29:42.

“I was trying hard to take the stage win, however it was a bit too hard to take the overall,” Fauzan explained. “I broke away at KOM 1 and then there were three of us, I broke away again at KOM 2 and at that point I knew I could win the stage.” With two strong finishes, Fauzan also took out yesterday’s fifth stage.

But it wasn’t enough. As Fetch said: “We played a defensive game today, covered the early moves and had Scotty and Neil up front to keep an eye on AJ. It was definitely interesting going through all the different parts of Dili; the atmosphere was incredible, there were just people everywhere”.

As Fetch explains the Search 2 Retain team will divide the prize money equally. “I couldn’t have done it myself, it’s just awesome to have the support from the team around me. I’ll definitely have to come back next year to defend my title.”

Neil van der Ploeg took second for the stage win today with a time of 2:39: 42. “Our priority was to make sure Luke and Paul held onto their leads,” he explained. “The main guys have been climbing more strongly than myself so I was thinking if I could get out in a small move then I’d be able to help them at the end.”

Ashley Hayat, of Fitzroy Revolution who came in third, explained: “Neil and I drove it across the riverbed, dropped the other guys and then raced to the finish. We’re good friends so when we came up to the line we stayed side by side and sprinted; Neil just beat me across the line”.  Asked about the finish in Dili, Hayat said: “It’s pretty cool; you really don’t get to experience that very often unless you’re a professional rider. It’s a great way to finish as it gives you a boost coming into the last day. I love it. I’ve competed in the Tour de Timor every year and always have a fantastic time.”

Winner of the women’s open title, Peta Mullens explained more than anything that she was happy for her team: Nothing Good Can Come of This. “We were still holding first, second and third and wanted to retain that which I think we did which makes us really happy”.

“The terrain here is so gorgeous and the Timorese people were amazing supporting us up the hills. The ride into town today was just incredible with so many people who came out to support Timor-Leste.  I think we’re going to team up again and come back in 2012, hopefully bringing even more people to tour the country.”

Anche Cabral has finished her clean sweep of the National Women’s team. “I found this last stage easy, we had good roads and a big group to ride in.” Cabral was characteristically excited about the development of women’s riding in Timor-Leste. Offering advice to young Timorese women looking to get into sport she said: “When I fall, I look towards the finish line, there is always water, always medical support, so no matter how much you hurt you can come out fine in the end!”

Tinker Juarez finished the event with a strong ride in the main group. “Today the main priority was keeping out of trouble, keeping the road side up and ensuring not get any flats,” he said.

“It was quite exciting to see all the supporters and the roads closed. Every corner and every block was just full of people which was incredible. To me the event was first class and I’d love to get a couple of team riders out here next year.”

Nelson Silva came in fourth, riding by himself away from the group with a time of 2h42:08. The Portuguese coach of the Timorese National Team has ridden well across the race and has been a crowd favourite in each town.

The 2011 Tour de Timor has been an overwhelming success for the riders and for Timor-Leste. The event has pushed Timor further into the spotlight as a new destination for adventure tourism and intrepid travel. This year, close to 1000 participants including riders, support, media and VIPs made the trip through Laclubar, Beacu, Iliomar, Com, Manatuto and back to Dili.

As Mark Barrends, Race Director for this year’s Tour de Timor said: “It’s been an awesome six days, I’ve had the best time of my life. We’ve had a lot of young up and coming riders who have really proved their worth. I loved the scenery, I loved the people, I loved everything about this country. It is the first time I’ve been to Timor-Leste and I will definitely be back.”