The Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s Cup Tour of Thailand
Stage 6 – Phayao to Chiang Rai 140 kms
April 6, 2014 – Eric Sheppard and Goh Choon Huat helped the OCBC Singapore Pro Cycling Team cap off a successful campaign at The Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s Cup Tour of Thailand, each sealing a career-best General Classification finish after Sunday’s Stage 6 in Chiang Rai.
Sheppard, a 22-year-old Australian, finished fifth in the General Classification standings, 24 seconds behind yellow jersey winner Yasuharu Nakajima of Japan’s Aisan Racing Team. The 23-year-old Goh was the highest Singaporean finisher in the GC standings at 12th, surpassing his 15th-place finish at last year’s Tour de East Java that had stood as his previous best on the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Asia Tour.
Each rider benefited from a roaring start to the six-stage race, with Sheppard taking fourth place and Goh crossing the line in 10th place in Tuesday’s Stage 1.
Nakajima trailed Team Hong Kong-China’s Cheung King Lok by 4 seconds in the GC standings entering the day, but he finished second in the 140.8-kilometre Stage 6 to earn 6 bonus seconds that allowed him to edge Cheung for the yellow jersey. Nakajima, who also captured the Sprints Classification title, was one of four Aisan Racing Team riders who led the peloton across the line, headed by stage winner Taiji Nishitani, in a time of 3:09:39.
“Eric and Choon Huat produced some terrific racing throughout the week, and I’m ecstatic they managed to defend their places in the General Classification standings,” said Justin Cheong, Team Manager of the OCBC Singapore Pro Cycling Team. “The two of them are still getting better with each race, and I’m excited to see what they can do in the future.”
Sheppard once again led all OCBC riders in Stage 6 by crossing the line in 18th place, while Goh, who also won the only intermediate sprint in Stage 6, finished 50th. Both finished within the peloton and were credited with the same time as Nishitani.
Rounding out the OCBC Singapore Pro Cycling Team’s lineup were Singaporean Ho Jun Rong and Australians Mitchell Mulhern and Cameron Bayly. Ho finished 82nd in Stage 6 for a final GC ranking of 76th. Bayly and Mulhern finished 72nd and 47th, respectively, in Stage 6 and 72nd and 82nd, respectively, in the GC standings.
The OCBC Singapore Pro Cycling Team returns to action at Le Tour de Filipinas, a four-stage race which runs from 21-24 April. The team’s Dutch captain Thomas Rabou is the defending King of the Mountains (KOM) champion at Le Tour de Filipinas.
Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s Cup Tour of Thailand 2014 Stage 6 results from Thai Cycling Association
About OCBC Singapore Pro Cycling Team
The OCBC Singapore Pro Cycling Team was first founded in 2009 as an amateur club team with the mission to develop and promote Singapore cycling. The team has today turned into a full-fledged professional cycling team and established itself as the premier road developmental team for cycling talent in Singapore. Being the first and only professional cycling outfit out of Singapore, the team has been licensed by the Union Cycliste Internationale (“UCI”) as a UCI Continental Cycling Team since 2012. Riders from the team have been crowned champions or stage winners in races such as the Tour de Siam, Tour de Kumano, Tour de Filipinas and Tour of Thailand, as well as capturing the King of Mountains jersey at the Tour of California. The OCBC Singapore Pro Cycling Team captured its first yellow jersey at Jelajah Malaysia in June 2013, in just its second season as a UCI Continental Team.
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