Cycling: Hibernian Team Ireland riders Philip Deignan and David McCann had an excellent showing over the weekend in the Malaysia Tour de Langkawi, riding strongly on two mountain stages in the pro-am event.
On Saturday the amateur duo were to the fore throughout the 15km stage to the summit finish of Tanah Rata, crossing the line less than two and a half minutes behind the stage winner Marlon Perez of the Colombia-Selle Italia team. Deignan was 19th with McCann 22nd.
Their team-mate, Paul Griffin, had also been riding strongly but finished seven minutes back after suffering mechanical problems inside the final 10km.
Yesterday's rain-soaked stage to Raub saw the duo move further up the general classification. They crested the day's first category climb at Gap Rest House at the front of the bunch, and then worked their way to the head of affairs on the slippery, treacherous descent. Picking their way past numerous fallers, the two riders showed considerable skill in going clear of the rest of the front runners, almost reeling in lone leader Brett Lancaster by the line.
Deignan was in the perfect position coming into the final bend but lost a little ground when the rider in front of him crashed. The talented 20-year-old sprinted home an excellent sixth, 35 seconds behind the winner, with McCann 12th.
They start today's fourth stage to Tampin in 12th and 13th place overall, less than two minutes behind leader Freddy Gonzalez of the Colombia-Selle Italia team.
