Moriarty continues good Langkawi form

Cycling News round-up: Eugene Moriarty yesterday recorded another good placing for the Hibernian Team Ireland squad in the Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia, finishing 15th in the sprint which settled the honours at the end of stage seven.

The Kerry rider crossed the line four seconds behind the stage winner Luciano Pagliarini (Lampre), who outsprinted points leader Gordon Fraser (Health Net Pro) and Graeme Brown (Ceramiche Panaria) in their gallop to the line.

Moriarty's result is the latest in a string of good performances by the Irish team in the pro-am race but he was less than pleased with his placing.

"The team did a great ride to try to set me up but it just didn't work out properly today," he said. "There was a huge amount of switching going on in the final few kilometres, with riders going everywhere. It was very hard to get into position. We ran wide on one of the bends and had to go around a traffic island, losing about 15 or 20 places."

The Irish team's efforts to jockey for position were further hampered by a bizarre accident inside the final two kilometres. Rounding a bend, the peloton found themselves heading straight for a policeman standing in the middle of the road. While some riders went down in a crash, Moriarty stayed upright. However, the accident caused chaos in the bunch and he found himself too far back and fighting to make up lost ground.

"The way things worked out was pretty frustrating," said Moriarty. "But there are two days left where sprint finishes are likely so I should have other chances."

Today's leg from Port Dickson to Shah Alam is one of these, a flat 96-kilometre run likely to play into the hands of the sprinters. Moriarty's goal is to be in the thick of things with the best gallopers, while team-mates David McCann and Philip Deignan will be focusing their thoughts for tomorrow's all important race to the top of the Genting Highlands. They are currently 11th and 20th in the general classification and a good ride would set them up perfectly for a high overall placing. The Telekom Malaysia Tour de Langkawi ends on Sunday with a criterium in Kuala Lumpur.

An Australian cyclist is facing doping charges, an Australian Sports Commission (ASC) spokesman said yesterday.

The ASC declined to name the cyclist, although his identity has been widely published in local media. "The ASC and Cycling Australia have both written to the athlete outlining the nature and basic details of the alleged doping offences and are awaiting a response from the athlete," the organisation said.