2012 Tour de Korea | Stage 7: Yeongju – Chungju

When general classification leader Sung Baek Park came forward to pull on a fresh yellow jersey at the end of today’s seventh Tour de Korea stage, it was the first time all day the KSPO rider had been visible for any significant period of time. One team manager called it “the most disgraceful example of stage racing by a yellow jersey that I have ever seen”.

IMAGES: Aaron Lee

Park was invisible for most of the 138km queen stage from Yeongju to Chungju; except for the final 300 metres, in which he tustled amongst the front to secure tenth place. Park’s passive presence was a complete contrast to his courageous breakaway effort yesterday, which saw him convincingly take yellow from compatriot Chang Jae Jang (Terengganu Cycling Team). By comparison, Park’s nearest rivals, Alexander Candelario (2^nd on GC; Team Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies) and points classification leader Maximiliano Richeze (3^rd on GC; Team Nippo) were active all day, with Richeze being especially vigilant; seizing a 3” time bonus in the intermediate sprint, 42 kilometers into the stage.

Rapha Condor-Sharp’s Kristian House is surely the rider most entitled to begrudge Park his reprieve from the bunch’s attention. The British rider was a constant factor at the head of the race, but finished the stage with little to show from it; apart from the crumbs that remained after three fellow escapees – Denys Karnulin (ISD-Lampre), Seung Kwon Lee (Seoul Cycling Team) and Seon Ho Park (Arbö Gebrüder Weiss-Oberndorfer) – rode his wheel all the way to the top of the first KOM summit at 76.4 kilometers, then came around him at the last possible minute to take the most meaningful points.

House started the 5.6-kilometer climb with six other riders – Karnulin, Lee, Park, King Wai Cheung (Hong Kong National Team), Kun Jiang (Champion System Pro Cycling Team) and Michael Friedman (Team Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies) – but managed to open up a 300-400m gap by the time he reached the bottom of the descent.

Veering right onto a wide, rolling, motorway section, House continued to power ahead, splintering the 30 riders that had rejoined off the KOM summit earlier. Only Jesse Anthony (Team Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies), Hyo Suk Cheo (Geumsan Ginseng Cello), King Lok Cheung (Hong Kong National Team) and Anatoliy Pakhtusov (ISD-Lampre) were strong enough to catch House over two kilometres of slightly-uphill road. The five men cooperated adequately, reaching the second KOM at 98.1 kilometres with a 1’35” advantage over the peloton. In the main field, Park sat at the very back.

House was better supported by his breakaway companions on the second KOM, with Cheo gaining maximum points to move into third on the overall climber’s classification. With the last 40 kilometres into Chungju dropping 500 metres in elevation, it seemed unlikely House’s small break could resist the urgency of the fragmenting bunch behind. RTS Racing’s Jai Crawford and Mohammad Gharehbaghipouri (Uzbekistan Suren Team) did their best to bridge to the lead group, but only came within 40” before being swept up by the peloton, which had also swallowed a 17-man break enroute.

Progressively, the House group’s lead fell. At 30 kilometres to go, the six leaders had a time gap of 1’15”, but this gap halved with every additional ten kilometers traveled; with only 6.7 kilometres remaining, the peloton made contact. As House made his way back to the team hotel empty-handed – having finished 31^st in the bunch sprint – Sung Baek Park waited at Chungju’s World Martial Arts Park to receive his yellow jersey; arguably the freshest-looking of the classification leaders atop the winners podium.

POST-STAGE

Alexander Candelario (Team Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies) 5^th in stage 7; 2^nd on General Classification
“In the last 500 metres, we (Team Optum) had (Ken) Hanson and (Michael) Friedman doing the leadout. We were a little far behind on the left-hand side and obviously it was a bit chaotic. Friedman passed most of the guys then Team Type 1 hit out with about 300m to go. Hanson went, as the idea was he would lead me out for a time bonus, but we mis-timed it and got the stage win.

Jelly Belly Cycling probably did 95% of the work to catch the five leaders and Nippo had a couple of guys up there too. The yellow jersey did absolutely no work at the front; he pretty much did no work all day. He rode fairly strong on the climbs, but in between that and on the flats he was at the back.

The Kong Kong National Team rode the second climb pretty much up front, and the Geumsan Ginseng Cello guys seemed to attack (Park), but they also set a tempo; seeming quite happy riding to be on the front of the first climb. On the way down, it was all Jelly Belly, Champion System and Nippo.

Obviously, everyone is so close on GC that they think they can get a time bonus and take the jersey; but it’s very interesting that people seem so prepared to help the (current) yellow jersey out. You would think teams that are strong enough would try to create a racing dynamic that would pare it down, then use that to create an advantage. It’s pretty incredible. I don’t think you can do any other race anywhere in the world were you don’t do any work and still retain the yellow jersey.

At this point, tomorrow’s stage probably favours the Nippo guys. Maximiliano (Richeze, 3^rd on GC) is a very fast sprinter and he‘s within a few seconds of me, so it’s going to be a difficult situation for us to beat him in a time bonus. I need a harder stage; I’m fast, but I’m not a pure sprinter. We have a great lead-out strategy, so hopefully we can time it a little better tomorrow and pick up that extra six seconds or so.

The chances of getting a break and staying away tomorrow are pretty minimal. Everything goes back to that cancelled stage (four); because of that, the GC is going to be all about time bonuses. It’s unfortunate, but that’s the way it goes.”

STAGE 7 RESULTS

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE THREE

YOUNG RIDER CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE THREE

POINTS CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE SEVEN (Top 3)
1) Maximiliana Richeze (Team Nippo) 16pts
2) Sunjae Jang (Korea National Team) 10pts
3) Cheung Gyo Jeong (Geumsan Ginseng Cello) 7pts

KING OF THE MOUNTAINS CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE SEVEN (Top 3)
1) Sungbaek Park (KSPO) 12pts
2) Denys Karnulin (ISD-Lampre Continental) 11pts
3) Hyeong Min Choe (Geumsan Ginseng Cello) 10pts

TEAMS CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE SEVEN (Top 3)
1) Team Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies
2) Uzbekistan Suren Team
3) Seoul Cycling Team

ASIA TEAMS CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE SEVEN (Top 3)
1) Uzbekistan Suren Team
2) Seoul Cycling Team
3) Hong Kong National Team