Stuart O’Grady just shrugged his shoulders when asked the last time he’d won a bunch sprint like the one that concluded stage 6 of the 2003 Tour de Langkawi. “I don’t know,” he said after a brief pause. “It’s been a while.”

Indeed, until Wednesday, it had been nearly three years since the Credit Agricole rider had broken through with a win like the one he grabbed at the end of the 136.3km run from Marang to Cukai on another scorcher of a day in Malaysia. Before that you had to go all the way back to the third stage of the Midi-Libre in May of 2000.

“Today’s finish was more technical than in the last few days and I knew that would be to my advantage,” explained O’Grady of a final 5km that included several twists and turns.

O’Grady’s win came at the expense of countryman Graeme Brown, Tuesday’s stage winner. As the lead riders came into sight for the final straight to the finish, Brown jumped first with O’Grady hard on his wheel. But with a slight headwind, O’Grady was able to save himself just long enough to blow past Brown at the finish.

“I made a mistake today,” admitted Brown. “I went a little to early and it cost me.”

In Brown’s defense he didn’t receive anything close to the leadout he’d gotten the day before, because his Panaria team along with several other in the peloton, blew through a bunch of matches chasing down a long two-rider break that came within half a minute of making it stick.

The break that almost stuck.

Photo: Jason Sumner

Just 18km into this flat stage that traced its way down Malaysia’s eastern coast along the South China Sea, Peter Wuyts (Palmans-Collstrop) and Koji Fukishimi (Japan) took off and built a gap that crested at 4:40. And were it not for a furious effort by the main group in the last 15km, the pair would have ended the day battling for an unlikely stage win. As it was, they weren’t caught until less than 1km to go.

Wuyts’ and Fukishimi’s effort didn’t go in vain though. Besides being roundly congratulated following the stage, they could also sleep well knowing that they likely ended the GC chances of Roland Green. The Canadian suffered a rear wheel puncture with just 14km to go, and despite the best efforts of his team, wasn’t able to catch back on to the fast moving group before the finish, losing 1:29 in the process.

“Things were just going too fast because they were chasing so hard to catch the break,” lamented Green afterward. “My guys all dropped back and did everything they could but it was just bad timing.”

Green wasn’t the only rider to fall from the lead group, as the day’s blistering pace saw only 78 of the 129 finishers keep touch all the way to the finish.

Following the race there was some talk from the Canadian camp that Saturn had engaged in dirty pool, going to the front and dropping the hammer as soon as Green flatted. But Eric Wohlberg, himself a Canadian, roundly disputed that.

“We’re not going to play games like that,” he said. “It was already going mach one when he flatted. We were in a crosswind and it was still going 65k. The pace didn’t pick up. It just never slowed down.”

The loss of time dropped Green all the way back to 63rd, 1:49 behind race leader Nathan O’Neill. It also allowed O’Neill’s Saturn teammates Tom Danielson and Eric Wohlberg to each move up a place in the overall standings, where the American team now owns the first three places.

“Neither of the guys in the break were a big threat to the overall, so we just wanted to keep the window reasonable,” O’Neill said. “It worked out well for us. Today definitely had the biggest impact on the race so far.”

The 10-day, 1343.5 km race continues Thursday, heading away from the east coast for the 196km mostly flat trip from Kuantan to Bentong.

Click here for all the coverage and reports from the Tour de Langkawi.

NORTH AMERICAN RECAP
The big story was Green’s flat and subsequent time loss. The rest of his team was impacted as well, with Seamus McGrath losing 53 seconds, Peter Wedge 1:29, Cory Lange 3:24, and Gord Fraser, Alex Lavellee and Bruno Langlois 3:46 a piece. Over on the Saturn ledger, Phil Zajicek also got blasted out the back, losing 53 seconds.

That left three North Americans in the top 15 overall: Tom Danielson (USA), 2nd at 0:24, Eric Wohlberg (Can), 3rd at 0:27; and Tim Johnson (USA), 10th at 0:51. Chris Horner (Saturn) moved up eight places, and is now 16th at 1:02.

JOB HUNTING
Following the apparent implosion of John Wordin’s latest team, Hot Wheels, longtime Mercury rider Gord Fraser has come to Malaysia in search of employment. Fraser has been riding with the Canadian national team, but says he’s in discussion with several teams, including the Belgian Marlux-Ville De Charleroi squad.

“I think I’ve also got a couple of American teams interested,” said Fraser. “I’ll have to talk to my wife and see what direction we want to go. She just finished massage therapy school, so she’s in a place where we could move to Europe if we had to. One way or the other I think I’ll have it sorted out in the next two weeks.”

BELGIAN SQUABBLING
Following a day that nearly saw the Belgian Wuyts break through with a stage win, his Palmans-Collstrop team manager was irate at the behavior of fellow Belgian squad, Marlux.

“They don’t even have a sprinter, but they were helping with the chase at the end,” said Luc Landuyt. “It was just pure jealously on their part.”

JERSEY UPDATE
Yellow (Overall leader): Nathan O’Neill — The Saturn rider finished safely in the bunch in 45th, and saw his advantage increase from 20 to 24 seconds after Green fell out of the top 50.
Green (Points): Graeme Brown — Despite another close non-win, the Aussie held the top spot, though Stuart O’Grady closed to within 10 points with his win.
Polka Dot (KoM): Roland Green — The Canadian added a point to his lead, after finishing third in the day’s only climb, a short category 4 ascent.
Blue (Top Asian rider): Iran’s Hossain Askari held the lead he first took in the stage 1 time trial.

The stage 7 route

TEAM STANDINGS
1. Saturn
2. Colombia-Selle Italia, at 1:17
3. Panaria, at 1:22
4. Relax-Fuenlabrada, at 2:065. Domina Vacanze, at 2:10ALSO
18. Canada, 4:51

WHAT’S NEXT
Stage 7
Kuantan to Bentong: 196km
Up to now the route has suited the sprinters with mostly flat routes, but that could change Thursday. Stage 7 takes the race back across the country in a westerly direction for what will be the longest stage of this year's race, 196km on a rolling road from Kuantan to Bentong. The distance and the continuous ups and downs could result the race’s first major selection.