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Davison defends lead on day 4 in Langkawi

Oct 20, 2009
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<p>Lea Davison successfully defended her lead in the overall classification at the Langkawi International Mountain Bike Challenge (LIMBC) stage race in Malaysia on Thursday. Three of her Specialized Racing teammates - Max Knox, Todd Wells and Burry Stander - also maintained their top 10 spots in the men's race as of the end of stage 3.</p><p>
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With the overall title in mind, Davison paced herself on the fourth day of racing in Langkawi. She finished second at two minutes and 33 seconds behind stage winner Eva Lechner, thereby conserving some energy but maintaining her GC lead, which she holds over Elisabeth Sveum by six minutes and 45 seconds with two stages remaining.</p><p>
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"It was my strategy to stay in touch with the leading pack today. I want to save up my energy as I realised I have quite a comfortable time gap ahead of other riders. In this competition, it is important to know how to apply the right strategy," said the 29-year-old Davison.</p><p>
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Davison raced the 42.6km marathon stage on her Specialized S-Works Fate hardtail 29er.</p><p>
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Wells makes the podium</p><p>
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Todd Wells rode onto the stage 4 podium with a strong, third place. The men's marathon stage was also cut in length due to conditions.</p><p>
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"We had another mud-filled day here in Langkawi. They decided to take one of the walking climbs out of the race and to shorten the distance from 80km to 60km because of all the mud," said Wells. "We still rode almost four hours and hiked for 20 minutes on each of the three laps. The mud here is something else."</p><p>
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Wells, who was racing his Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper hardtail 29er with Specialized Fast Trak (front) and Fast Trak Control (rear) tires, spent the first two of the three laps riding in fourth place and chasing three leaders: Kristian Hynek, Fabian Giger and Emil Lindgren.</p><p>
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"Going into the last lap, I caught Emil and passed him as we hit the big hike-a-bike that gained something like 800 meters in elevation. I thought he was going to lose big time, but he didn't lose too much."</p><p>
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"I rode almost the entire last lap in third place and then with 5km to go, I got a slow leak in my rear tire. I hit it with the Big Air two times but still had to ride the better part of 5km on a flat tire for the second time this race. I barely hung on to third with a hard charging Max Knox coming in for fourth. That is not the way you want to finish out a nearly four-hour race!"</p><p>
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Wells crossed the line in third, 6:18 off stage winner Hynek. His Specialized Racing teammate, Max Knox finished in fourth, 44 seconds later.</p><p>
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"It was another beautiful day in the Langkawi jungle," said Knox. "The course had big climbing and portaging sections with some short, steep technical descents. Most of the course was in the thick jungle bush. My Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper, with Specialized Fast Track Control tires, was the perfect setup for the course. It was light on the climbs and nimble on the downhills."</p><p>
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Knox got stronger as the race progressed. "The race started fast, but I kept a steady pace and slowly caught up to riders who started too fast and struggled in the heat. I finished the day in fourth position again and moved closer up the general classification. There are two more days of good racing ahead."</p><p>
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Knox is the best Specialized Racing rider in the men's general classification; he is in fifth place at 14:43. Wells is sitting just behind him in sixth place at 18:53. After his 10th place finish today, Burry Stander remains in 10th in the GC, at 41:56.</p><p>
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It's been four days of tough conditions for the racers. "All this mud has been taking a toll on the equipment and requires almost a complete overhaul every night. The hoses and wash buckets</p><p>
here are working overtime," said Wells.</p><p>
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Tomorrow's stage 4 is an Olympic distance cross country race around Langkawi GeoPark.</p>

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