Le Tour de Langkawi 2017 – Stage 8 [Highlights]

March 1st, 2017

Le Tour de Langkawi 2017 – Stage 8– Setiawangsa – Putrajaya – 121 KM

The Tour de Langkawi is a multiple stage bicycle race held in Malaysia. It is named after the archipelago Langkawi, where the first edition started and finished. The race has been held annually since 1996, primarily in the month of February. It usually consists of 10 day-long segments (stages) over 10 days. While the route changes each year, the Genting Highlands climb, the toughest in the tour, is always included. Tour de Langkawi is sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.HC road race in the UCI Asia Tour calendar.

Dimension Data completed its Tour de Langkawi treble Wednesday with Ryan Gibbons securing the first overall victory of his career. The 22-year-old led the race from stage 2 through to the eighth and final stage where he finished fourth

The final day 121km stage was won by Travis McCabe (UnitedHealthcare) with Anthony Giacoppo in second place and Nippo-Vini Fantini’s Riccardo Stacchiotti third.

“Early on the team said this was a goal and the team has had a lot of faith in me,” said Gibbons after securing the overall victory. As a first professional my first year, this is my second race and my first time to have responsibility and opportunity I don’t think I could have ever imagined this … it is really special and a dream come true.”

Gibbons joins Ryan Cox and David George, and teammate Reinardt Janse van Rensburg on the honours roll as South African winners.

For McCabe, the win caps off a successful early-season debut with UnitedHealthcare, who also improved Daniel Jaramillo’s GC position to fourth place overall.

“Today was more based on instinct. I jumped with 300 to go which is still early but it was fast and I had to go when I had to go today. Henderson was really the only guy to take care of me, he dropped me off second wheel with 300 to go so I just punched it,” he said.

The peloton split in half on the early climbs of the 121km stage, and Gibbons was briefly in the second group. But the cool, calm and collected heads of his teammates got Gibbons back in the race and ensured that the threat of a dramatic finale quickly petered away.

“To be honest, it was a relief, I think again my head wasn’t 100 per cent in the sprint but with three k to go I was smiling, and the majority of the way to the finish and then the smile turned upside down in the last two hundred metres,” said Gibbons of the finish, disappointed he couldn’t add to his stage 5 win.

Gibbons also claimed the sprint classification at the end of the race with John Ebsen (Infinite AIS) the best climber in the race, Hideto Nakane (Nippo – Vini Fantini) the best Asian rider, and Isowhey Sports Swisswellness the best team.

How it unfolded

It was the calm before the storm as the remaining 97 riders in the race rolled out of Setiawangsa to get the eighth and final stage of the Tour de Langkawi underway. With the first climb of the day coming 10km into the stage, the attacks came thick and fast, but each and everyone was matched by the peloton.

On the approach to the second climb of the day, the peloton split in two with Gibbons and Dimension Data under attack from IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness and UnitedHealthcare. There was a regrouping before the 42-rider front group shrugged off the stragglers and by the 45km mark, had a 1:45 advantage.

During the aggressive racing, Gibbons took the maximum points at the first and second intermediate splits to also extend his overall lead. Jaramillo and Cecchin also took time with the former jumping into fourth place as a result.

The gap between the two groups on the road continued to grow and had blown out to over four minutes on approach to the circuits. The biggest casualty of the split was points leader Jakub Mareczko with the two-time stage winner unable to handle the pace of the chase.

The yellow jersey group entered onto the Putrajaya six-kilometre circuit for the first of six times with its healthy lead intact so much so that the chase group was pulled aside from the circuit to let the leaders through.

At the third and final intermediate sprint of the stage, Gibbons was first again to increase his lead. Dimension Data and UnitedHealthcare continued to control the pace in the front group for the ensuing laps. The second group was finally pulled from the race on the penultimate circuit with the riders timed at 13:48 minutes in arrears.

On the bell lap, it was UnitedHealthcare and Dimension Data controlling the race with the two teams boasting the fastest finishers. Once over the 3km to go mark, Gibbons secured the victory but having taken the inside line to the finish, was unable to properly contest for the victory as McCabe celebrated the win.

Results :
1 Travis McCabe (USA) UnitedHealthCare Pro Cycling Team 2:39:00
2 Anthony Giacoppo (Aus) Isowhey Sports Swisswellness
3 Riccardo Stacchiotti (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
4 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Team Dimension Data
5 Mohd Shahrul Mat Amin (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team
6 Andrea Palini (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
7 Marco Maronese (Ita) Bardiani CSF
8 Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF
9 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Team Wilier Triestina
10 Mekseb Debesay (Eri) Team Dimension Data
11 Giacomo Berlato (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
12 Marcelo Felipe (Phi) 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippine
13 Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) Androni Giocattoli
14 Alberto Cecchin (Ita) Team Wilier Triestina
15 Chris Harper (Aus) Isowhey Sports Swisswellness
16 Juan Villegas (Col) Manzana Postobon Team
17 Daniel Jaramillo Diez (Col) UnitedHealthCare Pro Cycling Team
18 Hideto Nakane (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini
19 Cameron Bayly (Aus) Isowhey Sports Swisswellness
20 Sergio Higuita (Col) Manzana Postobon Team
21 Masakazu Ito (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini
22 Greg Henderson (NZl) UnitedHealthCare Pro Cycling Team
23 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Team Dimension Data
24 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF
25 Fernando Orjuela (Col) Manzana Postobon Team
26 Robbie Hucker (Aus) Isowhey Sports Swisswellness
27 Thurakit Boonratanathanakorn (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team
28 Dmitriy Lukyanov (Kaz) Vino Astana Motors
29 Wilmar Paredes (Col) Manzana Postobon Team
30 Dadi Suryadi (Ina) Terengganu Cycling Team
31 Victor Nino Corredor (Col) Sapura Cycling Team
32 Timothy Roe (Aus) Isowhey Sports Swisswellness
33 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
34 Adrien Niyonshuti (Rwa) Team Dimension Data
35 Bernado Suaza Arango (Col) Manzana Postobon Team 0:00:05
36 Wilmar Jahir Perez Munoz (Col) Sapura Cycling Team
37 Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Androni Giocattoli 0:00:09
38 Nick Dougall (RSA) Team Dimension Data
39 John Kronborg Ebsen (Den) Infinite AIS Cycling Team 0:00:19
40 Jacques Van Rensburg (RSA) Team Dimension Data 0:00:38
41 Yecid Sierra (Col) Manzana Postobon Team 0:00:39
42 Tanner Putt (USA) UnitedHealthCare Pro Cycling Team 0:02:03
43 Giuseppe Fonzi (Ita) Team Wilier Triestina 0:13:48
44 Rafael Andriato (Bra) Team Wilier Triestina
45 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Team Wilier Triestina
46 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Team Wilier Triestina
47 Joonyong Seo (Kor) KSPO Bianchi Asia Procycling
48 Seungwoo Choi (Kor) KSPO Bianchi Asia Procycling
49 Daeyeon Kim (Kor) KSPO Bianchi Asia Procycling
50 Shijin Zhang (Chn) Keyi Look Cycling Team
51 Siyu Yang (Chn) Keyi Look Cycling Team
52 Hang Shi (Chn) Giant Cycling Team
53 Tomohiro Hayakawa (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team
54 Phuchong Saiudomsin (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team
55 Navuti Liphongyu (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team
56 Adrian Hegyvary (USA) UnitedHealthCare Pro Cycling Team
57 Carlos Alzate Escobar (Col) UnitedHealthCare Pro Cycling Team
58 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF
59 Niccolo Pacinotti (Ita) Bardiani CSF
60 Marco Benfatto (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
61 Scott Sunderland (Aus) Isowhey Sports Swisswellness
62 M Ameen Ahmad Kamal (Mas) Malaysia National Team
63 Nik Mohd Azwan Zulkiflie (Mas) Malaysia National Team
64 M Ameer Ahmad Kamal (Mas) Malaysia National Team
65 Anuar Manan (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team
66 M Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff (Mas) Malaysia National Team
67 Eiman Firdaus Mohd Zamri (Mas) Malaysia National Team
68 Irwandie Lakasek (Mas) Malaysia National Team
69 Maxat Ayazbayev (Kaz) Keyi Look Cycling Team
70 Stepan Astafyev (Kaz) Vino Astana Motors
71 Sergey Vlassenko (Kaz) Vino Astana Motors
72 Aiman Cahyadi (Ina) Sapura Cycling Team
73 Taras Voropayev (Kaz) Vino Astana Motors
74 Sea Keong Loh (Mas) Thailand Continental Cycling Team
75 Akmal Hakim Zakaria (Mas) Sapura Cycling Team
76 Sofian Nabil Mohd Bakri (Mas) Sapura Cycling Team
77 Shiki Kuroeda (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team
78 M. Izzat Hilmi Abd Halil (Mas) Sapura Cycling Team
79 Aspan Zhukenov (Kaz) Vino Astana Motors
80 Kota Sumiyoshi (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team
81 Dominic Perez (Phi) 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippine
82 Xin Wang (Chn) Keyi Look Cycling Team
83 Khunakorn Nonthichan (Tha) Infinite AIS Cycling Team
84 Ying Hon Ronald Yeung (HKg) Infinite AIS Cycling Team
85 Mohd Zamri Saleh (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team
86 Nelson Martin (Phi) 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippine
87 M Afiq Huznie Othman (Mas) Infinite AIS Cycling Team
88 Zhiwen Chen (Chn) Giant Cycling Team
89 Kritsada Changpad (Tha) Infinite AIS Cycling Team
90 Tianhao Gu (Chn) Giant Cycling Team
91 Nur Amirull Fakhruddin Mazuki (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team
92 Penghai Deng (Chn) Giant Cycling Team
93 Jesse James Ewart (Aus) 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippine
94 Bonjoe Martin (Phi) 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippine
95 Haiwang Liu (Chn) Giant Cycling Team
96 Marino Kobayashi (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini
97 Ryohei Komori (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team

Final General Classification :
1 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Team Dimension Data 29:04:57
2 Cameron Bayly (Aus) Isowhey Sports Swisswellness 0:00:33
3 Alberto Cecchin (Ita) Team Wilier Triestina 0:00:35
4 Daniel Jaramillo Diez (Col) UnitedHealthCare Pro Cycling Team 0:00:37
5 Mekseb Debesay (Eri) Team Dimension Data 0:00:41
6 Chris Harper (Aus) Isowhey Sports Swisswellness 0:00:43
7 Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) Androni Giocattoli
8 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Team Dimension Data
9 Timothy Roe (Aus) Isowhey Sports Swisswellness
10 Fernando Orjuela (Col) Manzana Postobon Team 0:00:50
11 Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:01:07
12 Hideto Nakane (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:01:16
13 Robbie Hucker (Aus) Isowhey Sports Swisswellness 0:01:20
14 Bernado Suaza Arango (Col) Manzana Postobon Team 0:01:25
15 Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Androni Giocattoli 0:01:29
16 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:01:32
17 Dmitriy Lukyanov (Kaz) Vino Astana Motors 0:02:07
18 Victor Nino Corredor (Col) Sapura Cycling Team 0:02:15
19 Wilmar Jahir Perez Munoz (Col) Sapura Cycling Team 0:02:31
20 Marcelo Felipe (Phi) 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippine 0:02:38
21 Wilmar Paredes (Col) Manzana Postobon Team
22 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Team Wilier Triestina 0:04:35
23 Dadi Suryadi (Ina) Terengganu Cycling Team 0:04:37
24 Adrien Niyonshuti (Rwa) Team Dimension Data 0:05:40
25 Yecid Sierra (Col) Manzana Postobon Team 0:06:05
26 Masakazu Ito (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:06:09
27 Travis McCabe (USA) UnitedHealthCare Pro Cycling Team 0:07:26
28 John Kronborg Ebsen (Den) Infinite AIS Cycling Team 0:07:44
29 Mohd Shahrul Mat Amin (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team 0:08:02
30 Greg Henderson (NZl) UnitedHealthCare Pro Cycling Team 0:10:51
31 Riccardo Stacchiotti (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:14:27
32 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Team Wilier Triestina 0:15:00
33 Tomohiro Hayakawa (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 0:15:55
34 Ying Hon Ronald Yeung (HKg) Infinite AIS Cycling Team 0:16:43
35 Tanner Putt (USA) UnitedHealthCare Pro Cycling Team 0:16:46
36 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:17:19
37 Sergey Vlassenko (Kaz) Vino Astana Motors 0:19:27
38 Jacques Van Rensburg (RSA) Team Dimension Data 0:19:49
39 Nick Dougall (RSA) Team Dimension Data 0:20:37
40 Penghai Deng (Chn) Giant Cycling Team 0:21:27
41 Nik Mohd Azwan Zulkiflie (Mas) Malaysia National Team 0:22:13
42 Jesse James Ewart (Aus) 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippine 0:22:32
43 Sergio Higuita (Col) Manzana Postobon Team 0:23:10
44 Marco Maronese (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:23:33
45 Hang Shi (Chn) Giant Cycling Team
46 Carlos Alzate Escobar (Col) UnitedHealthCare Pro Cycling Team 0:23:35
47 M Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff (Mas) Malaysia National Team 0:25:21
48 Siyu Yang (Chn) Keyi Look Cycling Team 0:27:16
49 Rafael Andriato (Bra) Team Wilier Triestina 0:27:22
50 Anthony Giacoppo (Aus) Isowhey Sports Swisswellness 0:27:32
51 Zhiwen Chen (Chn) Giant Cycling Team 0:27:45
52 M Ameer Ahmad Kamal (Mas) Malaysia National Team 0:27:52
53 Daeyeon Kim (Kor) KSPO Bianchi Asia Procycling 0:28:05
54 Niccolo Pacinotti (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:28:47
55 Thurakit Boonratanathanakorn (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team 0:29:32
56 Joonyong Seo (Kor) KSPO Bianchi Asia Procycling 0:31:08
57 M Ameen Ahmad Kamal (Mas) Malaysia National Team 0:34:15
58 Khunakorn Nonthichan (Tha) Infinite AIS Cycling Team 0:34:30
59 Sea Keong Loh (Mas) Thailand Continental Cycling Team 0:34:31
60 Giacomo Berlato (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:38:01
61 Stepan Astafyev (Kaz) Vino Astana Motors 0:39:14
62 Maxat Ayazbayev (Kaz) Keyi Look Cycling Team 0:39:15
63 Nelson Martin (Phi) 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippine 0:39:19
64 Phuchong Saiudomsin (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team 0:39:57
65 Aiman Cahyadi (Ina) Sapura Cycling Team 0:42:12
66 Taras Voropayev (Kaz) Vino Astana Motors 0:42:55
67 Nur Amirull Fakhruddin Mazuki (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team 0:43:26
68 Juan Villegas (Col) Manzana Postobon Team 0:47:25
69 Kritsada Changpad (Tha) Infinite AIS Cycling Team 0:48:35
70 Xin Wang (Chn) Keyi Look Cycling Team 0:49:26
71 Andrea Palini (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:50:27
72 Shiki Kuroeda (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 0:51:15
73 Tianhao Gu (Chn) Giant Cycling Team 0:52:05
74 Seungwoo Choi (Kor) KSPO Bianchi Asia Procycling 0:52:13
75 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Team Wilier Triestina 0:55:13
76 Navuti Liphongyu (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team 0:55:25
77 Mohd Zamri Saleh (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team 0:56:15
78 Bonjoe Martin (Phi) 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippine 0:56:45
79 Scott Sunderland (Aus) Isowhey Sports Swisswellness 0:56:56
80 Marco Benfatto (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:57:20
81 Kota Sumiyoshi (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 0:57:27
82 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:57:45
83 Dominic Perez (Phi) 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippine 0:57:48
84 Ryohei Komori (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team
85 Haiwang Liu (Chn) Giant Cycling Team 0:58:22
86 Irwandie Lakasek (Mas) Malaysia National Team 0:58:34
87 M Afiq Huznie Othman (Mas) Infinite AIS Cycling Team 0:58:40
88 Adrian Hegyvary (USA) UnitedHealthCare Pro Cycling Team 1:00:21
89 Aspan Zhukenov (Kaz) Vino Astana Motors 1:00:54
90 Akmal Hakim Zakaria (Mas) Sapura Cycling Team 1:01:03
91 Giuseppe Fonzi (Ita) Team Wilier Triestina 1:01:33
92 Eiman Firdaus Mohd Zamri (Mas) Malaysia National Team 1:01:58
93 Shijin Zhang (Chn) Keyi Look Cycling Team 1:02:06
94 Sofian Nabil Mohd Bakri (Mas) Sapura Cycling Team 1:02:17
95 Anuar Manan (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team 1:04:37
96 Marino Kobayashi (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini 1:04:39
97 M. Izzat Hilmi Abd Halil (Mas) Sapura Cycling Team 1:05:14