CYCLING:Irish rider Paul Griffin ended the 10-day Tour de Langkawi yesterday very satisfied with his and the Giant Asia team's performance. The Kerryman finished the race 18th overall, seven minutes, 52 seconds behind winner Anthony Charteau (Crédit Agricole).

Equally importantly for him, the squad came out best in the team classification, taking an unexpected victory over the five ProTour-level outfits in the 2.HC race. They also won the Asian team award and Ghader Mizbani topped the Asian rider classification, making it a big payday for the Taiwan-based squad.

Griffin finished 16th on Saturday's ninth stage, coming home in a 28-man group some 34 seconds after stage winner Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff Credit Systems). This stage was crucial to Giant Asia's victory in the team award, as they started the day one second behind Crédit Agricole. However, as expected, Charteau's team had to use all their firepower to defend the yellow jersey, enabling an attacking Giant Asia to gain serious time and move into an unassailable lead.

Yesterday's final stage was the traditional criterium in downtown Kuala Lumpur. Italian rider Alberto Loddo (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Selle Italia) continued his rampage in the race's sprints, taking his fifth stage victory and thus equalling the record set by Graeme Brown in 2005.

Griffin finished in the same time, placing 35th. His Giant Asia team-mates also finished in the main group and ended the prestigious race a full four minutes, 30 seconds ahead of the next team, the ProTour level Unibet.com.

The squad are delighted with their performance in the race and will be on a confidence high flying out of Malaysia.