Le Tour de Langkawi 2018 – Stage 8 [Highlights]

March 25, 2018

Le Tour de Langkawi 2018 – Stage 8 – Rembau – Kuala Lumpur : 141,4 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.

Artem Ovechkin has made history for Malaysian cycling with the Russian holding off a plethora of attacks to deliver overall victory for the Terengganu Continental outfit at the Tour de Langkawi. In 23 editions of the race, the win is the first for a Malaysian team.

In the final stage from Rembau to the capital Kuala Lumpur, Andrea Guardini won his second stage of the race and 24th overall. The Bardiani-CSF sprinter getting the better of compatriots Manuel Belletti and Luca Pacioni. Ovechkin safely placed in the bunch in 37th place.

“I thought it was would be easy but it was not easy. It was a very hard day. After two mountains, the breakaway went away with one or two good guys on GC,” Ovechkin told Cyclingnews on the finish line. “I am very happy of course. Thank you very much to all my team and staff. I am very happy.”

In an aggressive final stage, Arturo Sierra and Amanuel Gebreigzabhier both enjoyed moments as the virtual leader of the race. However, the work of Rally and Bardiani-CSF ensured the sprint final with Guardini keeping intact his winning record in the Kuala Lumpur finale.

“Start the sprint before the others,” Guardini said of the secret to his success in the capital. “Some guys start the sprint with 150 metres but I know it will be too late. I was also a bit lucky because the Androni guys leave me space in the left and I say. ‘It is unbelievable’. They leave me space and I start and say ok this is my best finish ever.”

The win also gave Guardini the points classification ahead of Riccardo Minali after the Astana rider suffered a mechanical in the final 600 meters and could only finish eighth. There was also a change in the mountains classification with Alvaro Raul Duarte of Forca Amskins claiming the red polka dot jersey. Another classification win for a Malaysian team.

Yevgeniy Gidich defended his best Asian rider classification with Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia also holding on for the team classification. There was a reshuffle to the top-ten overall though with Harry Sweeny suffering a double puncture inside the final 6km and dropped from fifth to tenth. Gebreigzabhier the major beneficiary as moved up from sixth into fourth.

How it unfolded

From Rembau, 104 riders lined out for the stage to Kuala Lumpur. The capital hosting its 19th stage finish, a new record for the race, overtaking Genting Highlands as the most popular finish.

Within the first ten kilometres of the 141km stage, the quartet of Scott Davies (Dimension Data), Arturo Sierra (Manzana-Postobon), Simone Velasco (Wilier) and Joe Cooper (Bennelong) kicked off the breakaway. Sierra, starting the day in 15th place 1:31 minutes off yellow, was riding into the virtual race lead as the peloton pulled out a maximum led of 2:50 minutes by the 40km mark.

The reaction from the peloton saw the lead drop to a manageable two minutes. At the 50km mark, Sierra was dropped by the group with Ovechkin resuming his position as race leader. In the peloton, points leader Riccardo Minali broke a saddle and required a bike change while Cooper lost contact with the leaders. Velasco then forged on alone before also being reeled in by a new breakaway on the Hulu Langat climb.

A dangerous group of Nich Dlamini and Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Dimension Data), Alessando Bisolti (Androni), Lukasz Owsian (CCC), Alvaro Duarte (Forca), Harry Sweeny (Mitchelton) and Victor Nino (Sapura) went clear with Velasco. The new leaders held a lead of 50 seconds en route to the six circuits of the capital with Bardiani-CSF and Rally working hard to make the catch and set up the sprint.

On the second circuit, Ghebreigzabhier, Velasco and Dylan Sunderland attacked from the front group. Ghebreigzabhier briefly riding into yellow before he dropped from the lead group and re-joined the peloton.

Inside 10km to race, the catch of Sunderland and Velasco was made and from there, the sprint finish was a foregone conclusion. Guardini enjoying a comfortable winning margin for win number 24 in Malaysia. For the fans in Kula Lumpur though, the result that mattered most was the first win by a Malaysian team on home soil.

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

Final General Classification :
1 Artem Ovechkin (Rus) Terengganu Cycling Team 32:06:45
2 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:00:27
3 Benjamin Dyball (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:00:32
4 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier Werkilul (Eri) Dimension Data 0:00:54
5 Giuseppe Fonzi (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:00:57
6 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:01:02
7 Brendon Davids (RSA) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team
8 Thomas Lebas (Fra) Kinan Cycling Team 0:01:08
9 Alvaro Raul Duarte Sandoval (Col) Forca Amskins Racing 0:01:10
10 Harrison Sweeny (Aus) Mitchelton-BikeExchange 0:01:17
11 Piotr Brozyna (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:01:20
12 Luca Raggio (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
13 Sam Crome (Aus) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team 0:01:29
14 Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:01:33
15 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:01:42
16 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data 0:01:49
17 Johann Van Zyl (RSA) Dimension Data
18 Luca Chirico (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:01:56
19 Wilmar Jahir Perez Muñoz (Col) Team Sapura Cycling 0:01:57
20 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
21 Simone Velasco (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:02:24
22 Marcelo Felipe (Phi) 7 Eleven – Cliqq Roadbike Philippines 0:02:27
23 Salvador Guardiola (Spa) Kinan Cycling Team 0:02:30
24 Ariya Phounsavath (Lao) Thailand Continental Cycling Team
25 Kevin Rivera Serrano (CRc) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:02:42
26 Mattia Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:03:07
27 Peerapol Chawchiangkwang (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team 0:03:55
28 Muhammad Zawawi Azman (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling 0:04:05
29 Victor Niño Corredor (Col) Team Sapura Cycling 0:04:27
30 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:04:28
31 Dylan Page (Swi) Team Sapura Cycling 0:05:13
32 Juan Felipe Osorio Arboleda (Col) Manzana Postobon 0:06:22
33 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:07:42
34 Jordan Arley Parra Arias (Col) Manzana Postobon 0:08:28
35 Adam De Vos (Can) Rally Cycling 0:15:34
36 Aiman Cahyadi (Ina) Team Sapura Cycling 0:16:27
37 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team 0:16:38
38 Rustom Lim (Phi) 7 Eleven – Cliqq Roadbike Philippines 0:17:05
39 Morgan Smith (NZl) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:17:27
40 Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data 0:19:58
41 Muhamad Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling 0:20:07
42 Drew Morey (Aus) Terengganu Cycling Team 0:21:06
43 Agung Sahbana (Ina) KFC Cycling Team 0:21:21
44 Yecid Arturo Sierra Sanchez (Col) Manzana Postobon 0:21:29
45 Bernardo Albeiro Suaza Arango (Col) Manzana Postobon 0:21:56
46 Sarawut Sirironnachai (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team
47 Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:21:57
48 Jiankun Liu (Chn) Mitchelton-BikeExchange 0:22:16
49 Mathew Zenovich (NZl) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:22:55
50 Eugert Zhupa (Alb) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:23:41
51 Marko Kump (Slo) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:24:13
52 Michal Schlegel (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:24:24
53 Jianpeng Liu (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling Team 0:26:27
54 Muhammad Shaiful Adlan Mohd Shukri (Mas) Malaysia 0:26:33
55 Selamat Juangga (Ina) KFC Cycling Team 0:26:35
56 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling 0:30:57
57 Massimo Rosa (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:35:09
58 Ryan Cavanagh (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:35:33
59 Luca Pacioni (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:35:47
60 Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton-BikeExchange 0:35:49
61 Muhammad Abdurrohman (Ina) KFC Cycling Team 0:36:17
62 Nik Mohd Hazwan Zulkiflie (Mas) Forca Amskins Racing 0:36:49
63 Riccardo Minali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:37:20
64 Mohd Shahrul Mat Amin (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team 0:37:31
65 Azli Najmi Zulkefli (Mas) Malaysia 0:39:38
66 Anthony Giacoppo (Aus) Bennelong Swisswellness Cycling Team 0:40:22
67 John Ebsen (Den) Forca Amskins Racing 0:40:34
68 Arjay Peralta (Phi) 7 Eleven – Cliqq Roadbike Philippines 0:41:51
69 Carmelo Franco Martinez (Phi) 7 Eleven – Cliqq Roadbike Philippines 0:41:57
70 Hang Shi (Chn) Giant Cycling Team 0:44:23
71 Yikui Niu (Chn) Mitchelton-BikeExchange 0:47:13
72 Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:47:27
73 Fernando Orjuela Gutierrez (Col) Manzana Postobon 0:48:29
74 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:50:32
75 Thurakit Boonratanathanakorn (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team 0:56:53
76 Amir Mustafa Rusli (Mas) Forca Amskins Racing 0:57:02
77 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:57:50
78 Umberto Orsini (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:58:08
79 Matteo Malucelli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:58:26
80 Soonyeong Kwon (Kor) KSPO Bianchi Asia Procycling 1:01:57
81 Abdul Gani (Ina) KFC Cycling Team 1:06:26
82 Muhamad Firdaus Awang (Mas) Malaysia 1:08:28
83 Dominic Perez (Phi) 7 Eleven – Cliqq Roadbike Philippines 1:09:07
84 Mohd Harrif Saleh (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team 1:10:57
85 Jacob Hennessy (GBr) Mitchelton-BikeExchange 1:11:00
86 Anuar Manan (Mas) Forca Amskins Racing 1:11:05
87 Mohd Zamri Saleh (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team 1:11:46
88 Kenji Nakanishi (Jpn) Kinan Cycling Team 1:12:48
89 Michael Bresciani (Ita) Bardiani CSF 1:13:16
90 Imam Arifin Muh (Ina) KFC Cycling Team 1:15:47
Mahrus Ali (Ina) KFC Cycling Team