VietNamNet Bridge – Malaysian Mohd Hariff Salleh of Terengganu Cycling Team stepped on the pedal in the finishing straight to lead home a mass sprint finish on Friday, Dec 21, at the fifth stage of the ADC Tour of Viet Nam.

Referees change decision at ADC Tour

Pedal power: Mohd Hariff Salleh of Malaysia's Terengganu Cycling Team celebrates as he crosses the line to claim the fifth stage of the international ADC Tour of Viet Nam.

Salleh finished the 164km stage from Can Tho City to HCM City with a time of 3 hours 52 minutes 58 seconds.

Salleh's teammate Salleh Mohd Zamai came in second while Alexei Lyalko of Kazakhstan's Astana team finished third.

This is Salleh's second stage victory after winning the third stage, but Huang En of China's Max Success managed to finish in the same group with Salleh to keep the overall yellow jersey with a total time of 19:39.99.

At the start of the fifth stage, the judges made a controversial decision to give Huang the yellow jersey instead of HCM City's Mai Nguyen Hung.

Hung, who was determined to retain the yellow jersey at the end of the fourth stage, was upset by the decision and the city has appealed for a review.

"In general, the race has been organised well. We were pleased with the road, the accommodation and food," said French journalist Jean Francois Quenet, who has followed the tour from the beginning.

"But the organisers need to improve the timing system to ensure correct results," he said.

The race will conclude today in the Phu My Hung urban area in District 7.

Source: VNS