TOUR OF MALAYSIA BY KEVIN O'SHAUONNESSY

YET another bizarre blunder by the organisers of the Tour of Malaysia robbed Dubliner Ritchie McAuley of possible victory in yesterday's fifth stage. The Bray Wheeler was In a group of five riders who made what they thought was a winning break when they saw the signs saying that there was just five kilometres left in the 160 km race around Kuala Lumpur. Innocently believing the sign to be correct, they threw every remaining ounce of energy into riding the 5000 m . . . but, unfortunately, there was no end in sight when they got to where they assumed the finish would be, they were greeted by another sign informing them they still had 4km to go, and having shot their bolt they were eventually swallowed by the chasing pack. McAuley, who won a stage in this event when it was restricted to amateurs last year, was furious with the inept and disorganised organisers after the race.

"It's outrageous how anyone could be stupid enough to put the sign in the wrong place. It is beyond me," fumed the 26-year-old who has the distinction of being the only Irish rider not to suffer from food poisoning so far. "We thought we had timed our break to perfection. I was really confident of doing well in the sprint and of at least finishing in the top three as I knew I could beat most of the others in the group. "But considering the mess they made of the race so far I shouldn't be surprised that they couldn't even manage to put the sign in the right place," said McAuley after eventually finishing 55th in a mass bunch sprint.

Infuriatingly, this signposting blunder was not just a once off. On Saturday, the Swiss race commissionaires took the unprecedented step of fining the organisers for similar mistakes but obviously the lesson has not been learned. Another Irishman, Paul Butler also had his hopes of a place in the top three dashed when the real finishing line came into view. The Tipperary rider had battled his way up to third place with 250 metres to go. but he was Jostled out of position and eventually had to settle for 16th spot in the 107-man sprint. The stage was won by Germany's Andreas Walzer, while American Frank McCormack retained the yellow The blistering pace over the last 30 miles averaging about 43mph despite stifling heat and humidity had its toll on the field with another seven riders dropping out. That casualty list which includes Tipperary man Brian Kenneally who took ill on Saturday looks set to grow today when they tackle the stage from hell. It finishes up in the clouds with a 1630 m climb to the top of the Genting mountain and to make it even more punishing, all the climbing is confined to the last 20 miles.