Sindh’s Asif stuns Sabir to clinch stage three

WAPDA's cyclist still the overall leader in Tour de Pakistan.

KARACHI:

Sindh’s Asif Junior stunned Sabir Ali of Wapda after winning stage three on the third day of the Tour de Pakistan. Sabir, who led the pack on the first two days and is still the overall leader, was overtaken by Asif as the cyclists covered the 150-kilometre distance from Moro to Sukkur in the third stage.

Sabir, however, remained the man to beat in the 13-day race with an overall lead of four minutes and 50 seconds. Asif, who outclassed 57 other cyclists, returned with a time of four hours 16 minutes and 42 seconds. Sabir was 10 seconds slower in the third stage while Afghanistan’s Hashmatullah secured the third position after covering the distance in four hours 17 minutes and two seconds.

The 58 riders from 10 teams include players from sports departments of Wapda, Army, Pakistan Railways, Fata, Sui Southern Gas Corporation, the four provincial teams and Afghanistan. Their final destination in the race will be Abbottabad as they vie for the $10,000 prize money.

Meanwhile, Sabir said that he considers Asif’s domination of the third stage as a slight setback that is temporary.

“It doesn’t really matter if Asif takes one stage,” Sabir told The Express Tribune. “I don’t consider him a big threat.

“He is already 10 minutes behind me in the race, so going ahead in just one stage doesn’t really count. However, I do feel that cyclists from SSGC, Army and Afghanistan are tough opponents, they are unpredictable.

“But I don’t think Army really picked up any pace, so I did take the race easily, but each stage has a new story and I will try to stay ahead of everyone now.”

Hashmatullah, who is aiming to win the Tour de Pakistan, managed to stay on the third position on day three. He finished third last year, and he hopes to shrug off the misfortune this time.

The cyclist said that he feels the track would be easier this year since the map for the race changed when the Pakistan Cycling Federation decided to finish the event in Abbottabad instead of Peshawar.

“I feel that I have luck on my side this year. The route has been changed and we’re going to Abbottabad, where weather conditions are similar to Afghanistan. The terrain of the new track is also interesting so I’m hopeful,” said Hashmatullah.

On the other hand, Army went through difficult times when their second cyclist Zahid Mehmood fell on the track near Sukkur after eight riders collided with each other. Army also suffered a setback when their top cyclist Mohammad Rafiq had an accident on day two of the race. With Mehmood’s injury, Army are placed third behind SSGC and Wapda.

The cyclists now head to the fourth stage of the race where the distance will be 178 kilometres with  Rahim Yar Khan being the final destination.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2011.