A hilly course of Dorasan will play host to the 2015 Korean National Championships, and will see one of the smallest peletons battle out to be National Champion. Three teams, five riders and only one winner.
Indosat and Compal were technically the strongest teams on the startlist, boasting two riders each. Siam Cement has a sole participant, in form of Gyung Gu Jang, who would have to fight for himself.
A break of two attacked early in the race, with Gyung Gu Jang missing out, despite him not having a teammate for support. Sung Baek Park and Seung Kwon Lee were two off the front, and opened up a big lead.
With no chase back, it was down to the leading pair to fight out for the honours. With no attacks in the lead up to the finish, it would be down to a sprint. Both just as weak as each other on the climbs, Park is the better sprinter.
Lee opened up the sprint first, and it took a while for Park to react on the slope. Would the small gap be enough to stay clear?
The tactics from Park were all wrong at the finish. Letting Lee lead out the sprint, and giving him a small gap ruined all chances of the victory, and the Indosat rider takes the RR title! Sung Baek Park takes second place, with the rest of the other 3 riders finishing a long way outside of the time limit.
The time trial favoured one man in Korea, and it was Hyeong Min Choe’s ITT title to lose. No one else in the country could complete with his skills against the clock, and no one was expected to beat him.
The ride from Choe was just as required. He was calm, rode within himself and comfortably finished in 1st place, 1’23”ahead of his nearest rival.
A top of the podium, Hyeong Min Choe is crowned the Korean Time Trial Champion for 2015. Gyung Gu Jang won the battle for Silver, with Sung Baek Park taking Bronze.
Seung Kwon Lee
