Le Tour de Langkawi 2018 – Stage 4 [Highlights]

March 21, 2018

Le Tour de Langkawi 2018 – Stage 4 – Dungun – Pekan : 183,8 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, but has been reduced to eight stages over recent years. 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.

Riccardo Minali (Astana) became the first multiple stage winner of this year’s Tour de Langkawi after taking victory from a sprint on stage 4. The Italian beat Andrea Guardini (Bardiani-CSF) and Mohd Harrif Saleh (TSG) to win the bunch sprint in Pekan.

On paper, the stage was one for the sprinters, but the coastal route on the east coast of Malaysia provided high drama. A late flier from Callum Scotson (Mitchelton-BikeExchange) was only caught in the final kilometre while seventh-placed Mekseb Debesay (Dimension Data) crashed out of the race. Adam De Vos (Rally) was kept safe and retains the yellow jersey ahead of the queen stage to Cameron Highlands.

“I had my awesome teammates looking after me, getting me drinks and ice and just riding the front all day. I didn’t have much to do today so I took it easy and tried to recover for tomorrow,” De Vos said post-stage.

Having let the breakaway survive to the line Kuala Terengganu the day before, the sprint teams of Astana and Bardiani-CSF, in particular, were keen to resume normal service. In the run to the line, it was neo-pro Minali who proved to have the quicker legs ahead of ‘Mr Langkawi’ Guardini.

“Today was a sprint with all the riders. There was no climb, no excuse. When I started my sprint I thought I must go the finish line full gas and I do so I am super happy,” said Minali, who dedicated his win to Michele Scarponi.

At the half-way mark of the race, De Vos leads Nik Mohd Azwan Zulkiflie (Forca-Amskins) by 14 seconds with Harry Sweeny (Mitchelton-BikeExchange) third at 22 seconds. The remainder of the peloton is over one minute in arrears to De Vos ahead of the queen stage.

With Astana banking two wins already, the pressure is now on Dimension Data to match their WorldTour counterparts but have to do so without last year’s winner at Cameron Highlands. Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier Werkilul in 20th position is Dimension Data’s best-placed rider overall.

Stage 5 of the Tour de Langkawi is a 169.4km ride from Bentong to Cameron Highlands.

How it unfolded

Following the unsavoury end to stage 3 that resulted in the expulsion of Zhiwen Chen from the race, for fighting, Giant and TSG made peace on the start line in Dungun. The start of the stage would not be as peaceful though with a flurry of attacks from kilometre zero. A number of unsuccessful moves were made before a six-rider group went clear after 10km of racing.

The sextet compromised of Rustom Lim and Arjay Peralta (7/11), Zheng Zhang (Hengxiang), Seungwoo Choi (KSPO), Aiman Cahyadi (Sapura) and Sarawut Sirironnachai (Thailand). By the first sprint point in Paka, they had a lead of two minutes. The lead ballooned out to over five minutes at the sole KOM of the day further south down the coastline where Sarawut took maximum points.

Controlling the peloton was Rally and Bardiani-CSF with the peloton content to let the break sit at five minutes. The gap would begin to fall and by the third and final sprint point, the breakaway had 2:45 minutes. The pace continued to lift in the bunch, while at the head of the race, Sarawut was the first rider to lose contact from the breakaway.

The gap continued to fall with the peloton clearly wanting to avoid the miscalculation of stage 2 that let the breakaway take the win. With the break caught, Callum Scotson decided to take a late flier and held off the bunch to just inside the final kilometre. The crash that ended Mekseb Debesay’s race not enough to swing things in Scoston’s favour as Minali charged to his second victory of the race.

Results :
1 Riccardo Minali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 4:10:14
2 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
3 Mohd Harrif Saleh (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team
4 Luca Pacioni (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
5 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
6 Alan Banaszek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
7 Anthony Giacoppo (Aus) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team
8 Jordan Arley Parra Arias (Col) Manzana Postobon
9 Dylan Page (Swi) Team Sapura Cycling
10 Jacob Hennessy (GBr) Mitchelton-BikeExchange
11 Anuar Manan (Mas) Forca Amskins Racing
12 Eric Young (USA) Rally Cycling
13 Mohd Zamri Saleh (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team
14 Mohd Shahrul Mat Amin (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team
15 Dominic Perez (Phi) 7 Eleven – Cliqq Roadbike Philippines
16 Muhammad Zawawi Azman (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling
17 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF
18 Marcelo Felipe (Phi) 7 Eleven – Cliqq Roadbike Philippines
19 Salvador Guardiola (Spa) Kinan Cycling Team
20 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier Werkilul (Eri) Dimension Data
21 Bernardo Albeiro Suaza Arango (Col) Manzana Postobon
22 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
23 Sungbaek Park (Kor) KSPO Bianchi Asia Procycling
24 Phuchong Saiudomsin (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team
25 Luca Chirico (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
26 Metkel Eyob (Eri) Terengganu Cycling Team
27 Michal Schlegel (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
28 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
29 Morgan Smith (NZl) St George Continental Cycling Team
30 Harrison Sweeny (Aus) Mitchelton-BikeExchange
31 Adam De Vos (Can) Rally Cycling
32 Sam Crome (Aus) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team
33 Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
34 Giuseppe Fonzi (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
35 Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data
36 Benjamin Dyball (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team
37 Alvaro Raul Duarte Sandoval (Col) Forca Amskins Racing
38 Mattia Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
39 Artem Ovechkin (Rus) Terengganu Cycling Team
40 Thomas Lebas (Fra) Kinan Cycling Team
41 Marcos Garcia Fernandez (Spa) Kinan Cycling Team
42 Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
43 Yecid Arturo Sierra Sanchez (Col) Manzana Postobon
44 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data
45 Brendon Davids (RSA) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team
46 Aiman Cahyadi (Ina) Team Sapura Cycling
47 Massimo Rosa (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
48 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data
49 Fernando Orjuela Gutierrez (Col) Manzana Postobon
50 Simone Sterbini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
51 Ariya Phounsavath (Lao) Thailand Continental Cycling Team
52 Nik Mohd Hazwan Zulkiflie (Mas) Forca Amskins Racing
53 Jianpeng Liu (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team
54 Simone Velasco (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
55 Amir Mustafa Rusli (Mas) Forca Amskins Racing
56 Wilmar Jahir Perez Muñoz (Col) Team Sapura Cycling
57 Mohammad Saufi Mat Senan (Mas) Forca Amskins Racing
58 Yikui Niu (Chn) Mitchelton-BikeExchange
59 Piotr Brozyna (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
60 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
61 Muhammad Abdurrohman (Ina) KFC Cycling Team
62 Luca Raggio (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
63 Mathew Zenovich (NZl) St George Continental Cycling Team
64 Johann Van Zyl (RSA) Dimension Data
65 Carmelo Franco Martinez (Phi) 7 Eleven – Cliqq Roadbike Philippines
66 Jiankun Liu (Chn) Mitchelton-BikeExchange 0:00:10
67 Muhammad Elmi Jumari (Mas) Malaysia
68 Muhamad Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling
69 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team
70 Drew Morey (Aus) Terengganu Cycling Team
71 Sarawut Sirironnachai (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team
72 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally Cycling
73 Eugert Zhupa (Alb) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:00:20
74 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
75 Marko Kump (Slo) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:00:22
76 Azli Najmi Zulkefli (Mas) Malaysia
77 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:00:30
78 Matteo Malucelli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:00:42
79 Kevin Rivera Serrano (CRc) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
80 Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton-BikeExchange 0:00:48
81 Joseph Cooper (NZl) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team 0:01:04
82 Michael Bresciani (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:01:08
83 Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
84 Rustom Lim (Phi) 7 Eleven – Cliqq Roadbike Philippines 0:01:19
85 Arjay Peralta (Phi) 7 Eleven – Cliqq Roadbike Philippines 0:01:28
86 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Bardiani CSF
87 Juan Felipe Osorio Arboleda (Col) Manzana Postobon 0:02:09
88 Umberto Orsini (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:02:26
89 Seungwoo Choi (Kor) KSPO Bianchi Asia Procycling 0:02:31
90 Victor Niño Corredor (Col) Team Sapura Cycling 0:02:54
91 Guangtong Ma (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team 0:03:45
92 Bo Wang (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team
93 Andris Vosekalns (Lat) Hengxiang Cycling Team 0:03:46
94 Zheng Zhang (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team 0:03:53
95 Peerapol Chawchiangkwang (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team
96 Sea Keong Loh (Mas) Thailand Continental Cycling Team 0:04:02
97 Thurakit Boonratanathanakorn (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team 0:04:08
98 Matteo Dal-Cin (Can) Rally Cycling 0:04:25
99 John Ebsen (Den) Forca Amskins Racing 0:04:42
100 Muhamad Firdaus Awang (Mas) Malaysia
101 Hang Shi (Chn) Giant Cycling Team
102 Muhammad Ameer Ahmad Kamal (Mas) Malaysia
103 Selamat Juangga (Ina) KFC Cycling Team
104 Daniel Ven Cariño (Phi) 7 Eleven – Cliqq Roadbike Philippines
105 Abdul Gani (Ina) KFC Cycling Team
106 Agung Sahbana (Ina) KFC Cycling Team
107 Muhammad Ameen Ahmad Kamal (Mas) Malaysia
108 Muhammad Shaiful Adlan Mohd Shukri (Mas) Malaysia
109 Charles Bradley Huff (USA) Rally Cycling
110 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling
111 Meng Yan (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team
112 Mahrus Ali (Ina) KFC Cycling Team
113 Genki Yamamoto (Jpn) Kinan Cycling Team
114 Kenji Nakanishi (Jpn) Kinan Cycling Team
115 Imam Arifin Muh (Ina) KFC Cycling Team
116 Soonyeong Kwon (Kor) KSPO Bianchi Asia Procycling 0:05:51
117 Daeyeon Kim (Kor) KSPO Bianchi Asia Procycling
118 Jay Dutton (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team
119 Ryan Cavanagh (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team
120 Sukho Kang (Kor) KSPO Bianchi Asia Procycling
121 Kaden Groves (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team
DNF Mekseb Debesay (Eri) Dimension Data
DNF Liu Manduo (Chn) Giant Cycling Team
DNF Joonyong Seo (Kor) KSPO Bianchi Asia Procycling
DNS Juan Sebastian Molano Benavides (Col) Manzana Postobon

General Classification after Stage 4 :
1 Adam De Vos (Can) Rally Cycling 16:55:45
2 Nik Mohd Hazwan Zulkiflie (Mas) Forca Amskins Racing 0:00:14
3 Harrison Sweeny (Aus) Mitchelton-BikeExchange 0:00:22
4 Riccardo Minali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:01:09
5 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:01:26
6 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
7 Marcelo Felipe (Phi) 7 Eleven – Cliqq Roadbike Philippines 0:01:27
8 Thomas Lebas (Fra) Kinan Cycling Team
9 Yikui Niu (Chn) Mitchelton-BikeExchange
10 Alvaro Raul Duarte Sandoval (Col) Forca Amskins Racing 0:01:28
11 Jordan Arley Parra Arias (Col) Manzana Postobon
12 Jianpeng Liu (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team
13 Dylan Page (Swi) Team Sapura Cycling 0:01:29
14 Bernardo Albeiro Suaza Arango (Col) Manzana Postobon
15 Luca Pacioni (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:01:30
16 Mohd Shahrul Mat Amin (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team
17 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
18 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier Werkilul (Eri) Dimension Data
19 Sam Crome (Aus) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team
20 Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
21 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
22 Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data
23 Aiman Cahyadi (Ina) Team Sapura Cycling
24 Metkel Eyob (Eri) Terengganu Cycling Team
25 Artem Ovechkin (Rus) Terengganu Cycling Team
26 Muhammad Zawawi Azman (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling
27 Salvador Guardiola (Spa) Kinan Cycling Team
28 Michal Schlegel (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
29 Eric Young (USA) Rally Cycling
30 Luca Chirico (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
31 Giuseppe Fonzi (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
32 Marcos Garcia Fernandez (Spa) Kinan Cycling Team
33 Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
34 Simone Velasco (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
35 Brendon Davids (RSA) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team
36 Benjamin Dyball (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team
37 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data
38 Piotr Brozyna (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
39 Simone Sterbini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
40 Wilmar Jahir Perez Muñoz (Col) Team Sapura Cycling
41 Luca Raggio (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
42 Johann Van Zyl (RSA) Dimension Data
43 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data
44 Fernando Orjuela Gutierrez (Col) Manzana Postobon
45 Ariya Phounsavath (Lao) Thailand Continental Cycling Team
46 Mathew Zenovich (NZl) St George Continental Cycling Team
47 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
48 Mattia Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
49 Sarawut Sirironnachai (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team 0:01:33
50 Muhamad Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling 0:01:39
51 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team 0:01:40
52 Drew Morey (Aus) Terengganu Cycling Team
53 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally Cycling
54 Yecid Arturo Sierra Sanchez (Col) Manzana Postobon 0:01:47
55 Eugert Zhupa (Alb) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:01:50
56 Morgan Smith (NZl) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:01:51
57 Marko Kump (Slo) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:01:52
58 Muhammad Abdurrohman (Ina) KFC Cycling Team 0:01:55
59 Matteo Malucelli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:02:06
60 Carmelo Franco Martinez (Phi) 7 Eleven – Cliqq Roadbike Philippines 0:02:10
61 Kevin Rivera Serrano (CRc) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:02:12
62 Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton-BikeExchange 0:02:18
63 Jiankun Liu (Chn) Mitchelton-BikeExchange 0:02:20
64 Rustom Lim (Phi) 7 Eleven – Cliqq Roadbike Philippines 0:02:43
65 Peerapol Chawchiangkwang (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team 0:02:50
66 Phuchong Saiudomsin (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team 0:03:01
67 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:03:28
68 Azli Najmi Zulkefli (Mas) Malaysia 0:03:37
69 Juan Felipe Osorio Arboleda (Col) Manzana Postobon 0:03:39
70 Victor Niño Corredor (Col) Team Sapura Cycling 0:04:24
71 Anthony Giacoppo (Aus) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team 0:05:13
72 Selamat Juangga (Ina) KFC Cycling Team 0:06:12
73 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling
74 Muhammad Shaiful Adlan Mohd Shukri (Mas) Malaysia
75 John Ebsen (Den) Forca Amskins Racing
76 Agung Sahbana (Ina) KFC Cycling Team
77 Matteo Dal-Cin (Can) Rally Cycling 0:06:35
78 Thurakit Boonratanathanakorn (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team 0:06:41
79 Kaden Groves (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:07:21
80 Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:07:36
81 Ryan Cavanagh (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:07:37
82 Massimo Rosa (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:08:10
83 Hang Shi (Chn) Giant Cycling Team 0:08:22
84 Daniel Ven Cariño (Phi) 7 Eleven – Cliqq Roadbike Philippines 0:09:50
85 Jay Dutton (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:12:57
86 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:14:27
87 Mohd Harrif Saleh (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team 0:14:41
88 Anuar Manan (Mas) Forca Amskins Racing 0:14:45
89 Dominic Perez (Phi) 7 Eleven – Cliqq Roadbike Philippines
90 Alan Banaszek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
91 Mohd Zamri Saleh (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team
92 Jacob Hennessy (GBr) Mitchelton-BikeExchange
93 Sungbaek Park (Kor) KSPO Bianchi Asia Procycling
94 Mohammad Saufi Mat Senan (Mas) Forca Amskins Racing
95 Muhammad Elmi Jumari (Mas) Malaysia 0:14:55
96 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:15:05
97 Amir Mustafa Rusli (Mas) Forca Amskins Racing 0:16:39
98 Michael Bresciani (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:16:56
99 Andris Vosekalns (Lat) Hengxiang Cycling Team 0:18:31
100 Bo Wang (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team 0:18:56
101 Umberto Orsini (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:18:57
102 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:19:03
103 Daeyeon Kim (Kor) KSPO Bianchi Asia Procycling 0:19:15
104 Seungwoo Choi (Kor) KSPO Bianchi Asia Procycling
105 Imam Arifin Muh (Ina) KFC Cycling Team 0:19:27
106 Muhammad Ameer Ahmad Kamal (Mas) Malaysia
107 Abdul Gani (Ina) KFC Cycling Team
108 Joseph Cooper (NZl) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team 0:19:32
109 Guangtong Ma (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team 0:19:33
110 Zheng Zhang (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team 0:19:54
111 Meng Yan (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team 0:20:17
112 Mahrus Ali (Ina) KFC Cycling Team 0:20:29
113 Muhamad Firdaus Awang (Mas) Malaysia 0:20:39
114 Arjay Peralta (Phi) 7 Eleven – Cliqq Roadbike Philippines 0:21:28
115 Muhammad Ameen Ahmad Kamal (Mas) Malaysia 0:21:30
116 Sea Keong Loh (Mas) Thailand Continental Cycling Team 0:21:37
117 Genki Yamamoto (Jpn) Kinan Cycling Team 0:21:47
118 Charles Bradley Huff (USA) Rally Cycling 0:23:16
119 Sukho Kang (Kor) KSPO Bianchi Asia Procycling 0:23:36
120 Soonyeong Kwon (Kor) KSPO Bianchi Asia Procycling 0:25:52
121 Kenji Nakanishi (Jpn) Kinan Cycling Team 0:31:21