A 30% climb at the Tour of Thailand
The inside line from the 2024 Tour of Thailand, with contributions from Thai national champion, Thanakhan Chaiyasombat
The UCI Asia Tour returned this week, heading east for the first time this season for the Tour of Thailand. It’s the 19th edition of the race, which has become one of the biggest in South East Asia.
With Thailand’s mountains, jungles and flatlands, the Tour of Thailand always has the potential to be an interesting event. Further down, we’ll find out more about the race from Thai national champion Thanakhan Chaiyasombat.
The Asia Tour has an interesting dynamic this season, with several big teams competing for a top-two ranking spot - which rewards them with entry to the continent’s biggest races.
Last year those two places went to the long standing Malaysian team Terengganu and Thai squad Roojai Online Insurance, the latter getting into the top-two for the first time.
Roojai bumped JCL UKYO down the rankings in 2023. The Japanese team have changed strategy this season, basing themselves in Italy and racing mostly a higher-level European programme. They’ve already competed at Trofeo Laigueglia and Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali and will race the Giro d’Abruzzo this week. This means better racing and more development for their young Japanese talent, but also fewer UCI points. JCL UKYO decided to skip this year’s Tour of Thailand.
The final team hoping to jump into the top spots is China Glory-Mentech, as revealed to me by their Sports Director Lionel Marie. The team’s main goals this year are to prepare their Chinese riders for the Olympics and World Championships, but they would also like to get into the top places on the Asia Tour.
Now to the racing.
With JCL UKYO and several other more established continental teams staying away from the race this year, the startlist at the Tour of Thailand looked weaker on paper. The three teams already mentioned came into the race as favourites, but you can never discount the home riders in Thailand, especially those on the Thailand Continental Team.
The opening two stages looked like nailed-on sprint days. Stage one was won by Thai-based German Lucas Carstensen, with South Korean Sang Hong Park and Malaysian Mohamad Izzat Hilmi Abdul Halil second and third respectively. Both Asian riders had good seasons in 2023, with numerous top-10s in the Asia Tour.
The sprinters were upstaged on stage two by the lone breakaway of Terengganu’s Aiman Rosli. Rosli is a strong rouleur and is Malaysian TT champion. Abdul Halil was second and Carstensen a disappointed third.
Stage three was the queen stage and featured one of the steepest climbs you’re likely to see in a professional cycling race. The hill-top finish of Baan Rak Thai saw a big selection and dozens of riders having to get off and walk - Thailand’s uncobbled Koppenberg, you might say. You can see it here, shared by a friend of Global Peloton, Diego (@ciclodelmundo).
The stage was won by Peerapol Chawchiangkwang of Thailand Continental Team, who went with an initial acceleration by Antolii Budiak (Terengganu). When the Ukrainian faded, Peerapol was caught by Adne van Engelen (Roojai), but managed to beat him in the sprint to the line. In third was Peerapol’s team-mate, Thanakhan Chaiyasombat.
Stage four was another day which impacted the GC. A group of nine riders managed to escape over the hills in the middle of the stage. Jesse Ewart (Terengganu) sprinted for the win, ahead of Chaiyasombat and Van Engelen. Peerapol was caught behind, meaning Van Engelen was the new leader.
There were more splits on the flat roads of stage five, helping Antolii Budiak leap onto the podium of the GC. The stage was won by Nati Samansanti of Grant Thornton Cycling Team, a continental outfit from Thailand. It was Grant Thornton’s first ever UCI victory. Yutao Shen (China Glory) was second and Zulfikri Zulkifli (Malaysia) third.
The final day, stage six, was another sprint. This time it was New Zealander Nick Kergozou (St George) who won it ahead of Abdul Halil - a third podium for the Malaysian - and Aidan Mendoza (Go for Gold) from the Philippines.
Dutch lightweight climber claimed the overall victory for the first time at the Tour of Thailand. Chaiyasombat was second and Budiak third.
Thanakhan Chaiyasombat is the current Thai national champion. The 24-year-old is a gifted climber and one of the most talented cyclists Thailand has ever produced. Chaiyasombat second overall and two podium stage placings meant this year’s Tour of Thailand was his best yet.
He answered a few questions for Global Peloton to give an insight into his race:
Global Peloton: How did you prepare for this year’s Tour of Thailand?
Chaiyasombat: We trained on the program, focussed on the endurance and some kind of explosive training and training on some important routes of the stages in the Tour.
GP: You and the team have had a very good race, have you done better than you expected?
TC: Yeah, I mean we're in good shape and this is the first Asia Tour race of the year for us and we're hungry for the victory, so I think this is one of the reasons we did good results.GP: How does it feel to have finished second?
TC: It's great to finish 2nd on GC and win the Best Asean Rider (Purple Jersey), it was the best result I have done in Tour of Thailand and also on UCI 2.1 Asia Tour. I’m happy but still need more to win.
GP: How does it feel to race the Tour of Thailand as national champion?
TC: For me it was like one of my dreams, wearing the national champion jersey especially in the Tour of Thailand showing the title in this tour; so proud.GP: What has the racing been like? Has it been a hard race? Hot?
TC: Both, tough and extremely hot weather.
GP: The climb on stage three looked hard. Describe that stage.
TC: This climb is extremely hard, steep like a wall for some sections like 30% gradient. We have trained on this climb before the Tour and we know about it, we know how to do it and yeah we won this stage on this climb.
GP: What are your goals for the rest of the season?
TC: Take some stage wins, a GC win and join the Olympic Games.
The men’s event is followed by a three-stage stage for the women, beginning on Monday. It’s significant, as it’s one of the only chances the women in Asia get to race a stage race all year round. Look out for a report on that race next week.
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