How good could Tom Danielson be? Consider this. In the moments after finishing just an eyelash behind stage winner Hernan Dario Munoz on stage 9 of the 2003 Tour de Langkawi, the 24-year-old seemed more upset by the fact that he’d lost the stage than exultant that he’d just all but locked up the overall title in the fourth richest stage race in the world.

Surely this must be a sign of what’s to come for this 24-year-old, who is oozing the kind of talent that breeds dreams of Champs Élysees celebrations. But if you believed Danielson, the only reason he didn’t win the stage here in Malaysia on Saturday was the fact that he started the day in the yellow jersey.

“I would have rather gone right when we hit the climb,” said Danielson just moments after surrendering only one second to 2002 TdL winner Munoz on the hors categorie climb up into the Genting Highlands. “I like to ride harder than that, but when you’re in the jersey you can’t do that.”

In truth were it not for the pleadings of Saturn team manager Andrzej Bek, Danielson might well have taken off on his own. As it was, he spent a good portion of the climb allowing Munoz to hang on his wheel despite the 14-second advantage the American brought into the day.

Danileson shows the strain of the day.

Photo: Jason Sumner

But with Bek screaming into the radio from the driver’s seat of the team car, the young climber finally relented and latched onto Munoz’s wheel for the final 2km of the 26.7km climb that concluded the 143.7km stage. And was it not for his left foot coming unclipped in the last 100 meters, Danielson might have taken the stage win anyways. Instead Munoz finally broke free to take the narrowest of victories.

“I felt good at the end,” Danielson said. “I really think I could have come around him.”

The day’s racing began in the town of Seremban, where the temperature was well into the 90s when the official start came at 12:06 p.m. Unlike the previous days when the early breaks were allowed to go, the peloton was in no mood for a long chase and quickly shut down several escape attempts by Japan’s Koji Fukushima.

“It’s because of the time cut,” said Bek thinking out loud about the 15-percent cutoff rule that riders had to finish within to stay in race. “The slower they go, the bigger the time will be. That’s why the sprinters are chasing everything down.”

Bek also surmised that the pace was no good for his team’s chances. With Danielson being the only real threat in his climbing quiver, the slow start favored Munoz’s Colombia-Selle Italia team, which had three riders capable of staying near the front once the road turned up.

“They’ll be fresher,” Bek said. “If Tom gets isolated with them they will be able to attack him. That is no good for us.”

And indeed, Danielson did get isolated, losing the aid of all of his teammates except Chris Horner just 7km into the climb. And Horner himself was only around for another 3km.

“We figured that would be the case,” Horner admitted. “But on a climb like this, it’s so hard that you don’t need much help. If you on you’re on. If not you’re gone.”

Certainly Danielson was on, as too were Munoz and Canadian Roland Green. The reigning cross-country world champion was all but eliminated from overall contention after an ill-timed puncture near the finish of stage 6, but with the KoM jersey still in his possession he wasn’t conceding anything.

Horner was on bottle duty all day.

Photo: Jason Sumner

“I came into this stage still thinking about the GC,” said Green, who ended up third, 0:39 behind Munoz. “But I had to attack. The other guys could sit back and watch.”

Indeed, Green was the most aggressive of the riders once the real climbing started. It was his efforts that brought back the last of the late breaks. And it was Green setting the pace that shattered a group of 20, which included the likes of pre-race favorite Paolo Lanfranchi (Panaria), last year’s Genting second-place finisher David George (South Africa), and Colombia-Selle-Italia’s Freddy Gonzalez and Ruber Marin. That left just Danielson, Green and Munoz at the front with 8km to go.

“Roland was killing it,” said Danielson of a man he’s frequently referred to as his idol. “He brought back a lot of the Colombian’s breaks early and broke it up at the end.”

That threesome would stay together for the next five kilometers until Green finally faltered, falling off with 2.5km to go. Now it was down to Munoz and Danielson, with the overall title hanging in the balance.

“Watch only Munoz! Don’t do any work,” Bek repeatedly screamed into his radio. “Sit in his wheel! You have to see him at all times!”

And despite repeated attacks by the waif Colombian climber, Danielson had no trouble sitting on that wheel. It was only at the finish, where a short downhill preceded the soft run-up to the finish that Munoz got away. But it wasn’t enough to wrestle the leader’s jersey away.

“I knew he was good, but the truth is I thought I could get away from him today,” Munoz said afterward. “He was unbelievably strong.”

As for Danielson, he was anything but surprised.

“I never really doubted myself,” he said, adding that his future sights are set on another continent. “The ultimate goal is the Tour. Hopefully I’ll get to race in Europe some this year, but if not I’m going over there next year full time.”

The 10-day, 1343.5 km race concludes Sunday with the Kuala Lumpur criterium. Riders will complete 12 laps around a flat 6.3km circuit.

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

NORTH AMERICAN RECAP
Danielson and Green were the big story of the day, but mountain bike pro Seamus McGrath also had a decent day. The Haro-Lee Dungarees rider stayed with the main bunch for about half the climb, before ending up 21st at 4:41. Just back of McGrath was Saturn’s Horner who did bottle duty early in the race, then managed to hang on for a 24th-place finish at 5:18. Canada’s Peter Wedge was the only other North American to make the top 50, placing 43rd at 9:07.

Here’s the current GC placing and time for all the North American riders: Tom Danielson (USA), 1st; Roland Green (Can), 4th at 2:03; Chris Horner (USA), 22nd at 6:01; Seamus McGrath (Can), 23rd at 6:44; Peter Wedge (Can), 57th at 14:45; Phil Zajicek (USA), 75th at 19:36; Cory Lange (Can), 91st at 22:44; Gord Fraser (Can), 97th at 25:26; Eric Wohlberg (Can), 101st at 25:44; Tim Johnson (USA), 106th at 27:15 Bruno Langlois (Can), 120th at 36:34; Alex Lavellee (Can), 121st at 37:02.

JERSEY UPDATE
Yellow (Overall leader): Tom Danielson — The Saturn rider lost just five seconds in the overall standings, and is all but assured of claiming the overall title with just the stage 10 criterium to go.
Green (Points): Graeme Brown — The Aussie extended his lead over countryman Stuart O’Grady to 12, after taking 11 points to O’Grady’s 4 in the three hot spot sprints.
Polka Dot (KoM): Roland Green — The Canadian’s third place finish to the top of Genting sealed his KoM victory.
Blue (Top Asian rider): Tomoya Kano — The Japanese national team rider placed a solid 15th in stage 9 to jump into the blue jersey. He now owns a 20-second lead over Telekom Malaysia’s Tonton Susanto.

TEAM STANDINGS
1. Colombia-Selle Italia
2. Saturn, at 9:32
3. Lampre, at 10:09
4. Colchon-Relax, at 12:23
5. Formaggi Pinzolo, at 14:24
ALSO
10. Canada, at 18:01

Stage 10 route

WHAT’S NEXT
Stage 10
Kuala Lumpur Criterium: 6.3km x 12 laps = 75.6km
Sunday’s final stage will be the traditional circuit race in the center of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s largest city and home to the Petronas Towers. Depending on who you ask, these stunning structures are the tallest buildings in the world. The controversy lies in the pair of masts that top each of the buildings, which are connected by a enclosed footbridge. But if you do count the masts then the buildings scrape higher into the sky than any others in the world.

The circuit is dead flat, so expect another bunch sprint and no change in the overall standings.