Here's another race report from our mate Jon Malnick.

Tour of Eastern Lanna, Stages 5 & 6.

The flat 80km stage 5 from Phayao to Chiang Rai was covered at a businesslike 45 km/h and heralded no surprises. With the well-drilled Royal Thai Air Force team marshalling the front of the peloton, any escapes were always going to be short-lived.

The final city centre circuit race saw plenty of attacking riding but ultimately no changes in the overall. Chiang Mai riders were as usual well represented on the podiums with the biggest cheer going to Wisut Kasiyaphat's trademark "superman" solo across the finish line for the stage win.

Somewhat less flamboyantly, we managed to protect Team Cuore's 3rd & 5th positions in the 40+ GC in a tight tactical battle with the Bianchi team which unfortunately bored most of the spectators to tears.

A fun race, great scenery and thanks again to Crouching Tiger for the pre-race bike service.

Photo credit: ภัธนา มูลมณี

Tour of Eastern Lanna

A good mate and fellow cyclist Jon Malnick is currently racing in the Tour of Eastern Lanna, in Northern Thailand.
I asked him if he could give us an account of his experience at the race. Jon is racing with Team Cuore and is supported by Crouching Tiger Cycles, Chiang Mai. Here is his first race report for us.

Jon Malnick
Tour of Eastern Lanna, Stage 4, Nan > Phayao, 75 km.

With 1300m of climbing squeezed into a 40km section of devilishly-contoured tarmac, this scenic corner of north Thailand was always going to provide the backdrop for the Tour's killer stage. 

As late August marks the middle of Thailand's rainy season, grey clouds were massing on the nearby peaks as the 130 riders rolled away from the start line. Drizzle turned to rain and crashes in the jittery peloton soon followed. But the sun was poking through as we hit the first of the lung-searing 15%+ inclines.

The indomitable Peter Pouly, just returned from a string of victories in the French Alps, took the stage win - and then apparently rode another two hours to the team hotel to ensure a decent workout for the day.

Chiang Mai riders continued to show strongly in the closely-fought masters categories, with Nic Magnan holding onto yellow in the 30+, just ahead of Junya Juisakul. In the 40+, Henrik Tolstrup stole the lead from local hero Wisut Kasiyaphat, while your weary correspondent hangs onto 3rd place with three stages to go.