The MTCM started life in 2011 and has been on the radar of a couple of the NeilPryde-sponsored Team DirectAsia.com (TDA) riders for a while. The race is organised by the former Thai national rider Wisut Kasiyaphat who a number of the team have competed against in races in the past and who was keen to bring some foreign representation to the 3rd edition of his race. The MTCM is held in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai over 4 days. The time of year and the location make for much more pleasant temperatures for racing in Thailand but the shorter stages make for explosive racing. The format of the race is to have an 80k stage race on Day 1, a 40k circuit on Day 2, an 8.5km ITT on Day 3 and finally, an 80k road stage featuring some of the city's top climbs to round out the tour.
4 riders (Damian Barrett, Paolo Caputo, Mike Maiers & Deverell Smith) jetted off from Hong Kong for the race. Caputo & Maiers were both in good form, scooping gongs in the previous weekend's crit in Hong Kong while Smith was making his 1st outing in a stage race for Directasia.com. The riders met in the hotel on the Friday evening to assemble their bikes and get ready for the morning's racing. All eyes would be on Peter Pouly and his recently assembled Team Infinite Singha who had five riders in Open. Directasia.com knew all about Pouly's strengths having battled him in the Tour of Friendship back in May. He was joined by another well known rider to the team, Vincent Ang who had traveled up from Singapore to take part in the race as well as 3 other "French" expats including the RTS rider Alex Destribois .
The other teams in Open A who would need to be monitored were Life & Living and Bianchi Factory. Both would be looking to use the most of their local knowledge of the roads and terrain to take whatever advantages they could.
Stage 1, here we go...
There was an early start for all the riders on day 1 as all categories rolled out of the hotel and headed 16k north to where the race would be flagged off. This gave all the riders the chance to mingle and conversations in English, Thai, Italian, French and German could be heard from a very international group. The Open cat were flagged off with the Juniors and 30's Age group and attacks started immediately. Infinite and Life & Living took turns to send riders off the front but these breaks were well marshaled by TDA who kept a watchful eye to make sure the escapes did not get too far up the road. After 23k the riders hit their 1st climb of the day and despite being less than 2k long, the speed did damage to the group with the 1st split of the day occurring. Unfortunately for the team, it was also here that Smith was to suffer his 1st (of 3) mechanicals with a rear puncture ending his race prematurely. A solo Life & Living rider made a break for it but the group seemed content to leave him out there and he was reeled in on the final stretch to the day's KOM point. More a rise than a climb, team Infinite drove the pace up it but Life & Living held on to nip out and cross the line to claim the climbers jersey.
Shortly after the KOM, rider Nicolas Magnan used the lull in pace from a recovering pack to slip away. Barrett from TDA attempted to bridge but again was caught back however this move was quickly followed by a counter which saw Caputo & Maiers go off with Siffointe and Destribois from Infinite and Chansong from Life & Living. With each of the major teams represented in the break, the remaining riders from TDA and Infinite took turns in controlling the pace and allowing the 5 go clear up the road. Up in the break, most of the group were willing to work well but Chansong, cautious that he did not have any team mates, was unwilling to drive the break on. This led to some heated discussion between Caputo and himself in a mixture of English, Thai & Italian. In the end it proved to be a smart move from Chansong who took the sprint, ahead of Maiers in 2nd and Caputo in 3rd. Destribois and Magnan from Infinite made up the podium with the chasing pack rolling in 3 minutes later.
Stage 2:
Stage 2 saw the riders head north to the grounds of the Chiang Mai Rajabhat University for a rollercoaster ride around a 5k route. The riders would face a sharp climb as soon as they crossed the start finish line, this was followed by a short descent before another climb, a section of false flat before an uphill section. The riders would then face a fast twisting descent with 1 sharp left hand corner before a fast flat section before the final climb up to the finish line. The race would comprise of 8 laps with the KOM coming on the 1st climb of the 4th lap. The schedule for the day saw each category start at 1 hour intervals with the day kicking off at 8:30. This meant a late start for the Open cat who would not roll off until 11:30 and would be facing the additional challenge of racing under the mid day sun.
The TDA riders left the hotel in good spirits and took a leisurely 30k spin to the race course. As with the 1st stage, the pace was high from the off. Again, riders from TDA and Infinite would attack and counter leaving the smaller pack to work together to keep them in sight. The rolling terrain meant that the larger group would inevitably close in on the longer downhill sections.
Unfortunately for the team, Smith was to suffer his 2nd mechanical in as many days when his rear derailleur locked up on the 1st lap forcing him out of the race.
On the 3rd lap, Ang from Infinite got away and with his team mates slowing the pace at the front, managed to build up a lead of 30 seconds from the pack. The riders all seemed to welcome the rest as the speed of the early laps had taken its toll on the bunch. Ang stayed away and crossed the KOM line still half a minute before the bunch. The Singaporean rider then sat up and waited for the group to catch him rather than try to stay away for the remainder of the race. Ang tried to go away again on lap 6 but his companion from Life & Living wasn't too interested in sharing the front work and so the group crossed the line on the start of the 8th and final lap together. A group of 5 managed to get a gap of 100m on the rise leading into the final descent and despite the chase group being content to let them go, they couldn't get enough cohesion with the finish line less than 2k away. And so it came down to the final climb. Chansong from Life & Living, tried a repeat of his day one tricks but the combination of the day's racing and the uphill finish saw him pipped on the line by Ang who capped a great day for both himself and his team. Maiers was in the mix and got across for 5th place while Barrett & Caputo rolled across in 11th and 12th respectively.
With all riders receiving the same time there was no movement on the overall GC placings. After the stage the riders all seemed to have enjoyed the punchy course with Maiers commenting that it reminded him of a course he'd ridden in Sydney. The riders took the chance to ride stage 3's ITT course on the way back to the hotel before heading off for massages & pasta to recover for the morning's time trial.
Stage 3: The race of truth...
Another late start for stage 3 meant a little longer rest for the riders on the 3rd morning in Thailand. The 8.3k ITT course around Huai Tueng Thao lake just north of the hotel would present the riders with a challenge against the clock. The route was technical with a mixture of narrow roads, rises and descents and tight corners meaning bike handling would play as much of a part as raw power. The riders were let off in 1 minute intervals from each category with the Open riders taking off last. TT bikes were not allowed but there was a variety of bling on show. Most riders however opted for their standard road bike setups, preferring to use the additional control around the twisty course. Barrett was the 1st TDA rider to go off and came in with a time of 12:50. Caputo and Maiers came in in 6th and 7th places posting times of 12:42 and 12:40 respectively.
Smith's bad luck continued however as he snapped a pedal half way round the course. This was the 2nd time in a week as too much power during the HKCA Crit resulted in the same thing happening (to the other pedal)...
The stage however was dominated by the Infinite team who took the top 4 spots on podium with Pouly posting the best time of 12:04, closely followed by teammate Destribois who finished in 12:07. Woranet from Life & Living took 5th place in a time of 12:38. This meant there was a slight change on GC with Maiers and Caputo moving down to 4th and 5th overall but all the riders knew that the 4th and final stage would have the biggest impact on how the race would finish up.
Stage 4: Going up...
The organisers knew what they were doing when they picked the route and had saved the best for last for the Tour of Chiang Mai. Indeed, they had been working with the local authorities right up to the last minute to secure permission to race round the famous "Samoeng Loop". It would be the 1st time the route would be used for a road cycling race. Word of the change reached the riders on the Wednesday before flying out and having checked the profile, all plans for using 23 or 25 cassettes were shelved and the big rears dusted off and packed for the trip. The stage itself was an 80k loop and would see the riders leave the hotel and ride north for 18k in a neutralised section. They would then take a left turn and head towards the hills where the race would be flagged off.
The riders would face three climbs, each with increasing gradients to tackle. The 1st of these was the longest, an 18k climb with an average gradient of 4% but which was made up of a series of sharp ramps. The plan for the day was to try to get Barrett in an early break on the 1st climb and try to get over it ahead of the group to lend a hand to Caputo and Maiers attempts to consolidate their GC positions. The group hit the 1st time together but attacks soon started. Infinite again were in the mood to mix things up and sent Siffointe up the road. A Life & Living rider joined him and Barrett bridged across. However the plans soon went out the window as Siffointe showed he was in no mood to work together with his co-riders and attacked on every ramp. The Life and Living rider soon tired and dropped back to the main group. Barrett hung on for a couple more kilometres but was also distanced after about 30k. After riding on his own for about 5k, he was soon joined and passed by first Magnan, and then Pouly. It was soon apparent that Infinite had been causing havoc in the chasing pack as riders were strung out down the road.
Caputo was leading the chase riding with race leader Destribois and Woranet from Life & Living. This group carried on up the road as Barrett chose to recover and joined Maiers in finishing off the 1st climb. The 2 TDA riders crested the climb with a couple of the age group leaders and took the descent at speed. After 6k they hit the 2nd climb of the day. While only 1.5k long, this one averaged out at 7.5% and the riders tackled it out of the saddle. Up the road, it was here that Destribois chose to attack and rode away from Caputo & Woranet. The 2 riders worked together to limit their loses but could not keep up with the yellow jersey.
The final climb was comprised of a fabled 7 switchbacks. The 2.5k climb averaged at a back breaking 12% gradient. The roads were wet which made it difficult to get out of the saddles and the riders mentally counted down the switchbacks as they made their way to the top. In the front group of Infinite riders, Pouly demonstrated his dominance in the mountains by cresting the climb 1st and claiming the KOM jersey. The climb was followed by a 10k descent which with tight corners and wet roads meant that the riders needed to take the downhill with caution. Groups formed on the downhill and worked together as riders formed alliances to get them to the line.
The stage would be won by Destribois with Pouly in 2nd place. Siffointe came 3rd with team mate Magnan in 4th.
Caputo pipped Woranet on the line to take 5th place on the day and secure his 5th place overall. Maiers and Barrett finished 8th and 9th on the day.
The riders mingled at the finish line and waited for the closing ceremony before the short ride back to the hotel. Everyone happy to have completed the race and looking forward to not only coming back for the event, but also impressed with what Chiang Mai has to offer for cyclists.
Overall, the race was brilliantly run. The organisers kept things running smoothly and had spirits high throughout. The shorter stages meant for aggressive racing and the terrain and the stage routes offered something for everyone.
Words: Damian Barrett
Photos: www.masterstourofchiangmai.com
