Le Tour de Langkawi 2020 – Stage 6 [FULL STAGE]

February 12, 2020

Le Tour de Langkawi 2020 – Stage 6 – Taiping – Penang Island : 150,6 km

Le Tour de Langkawi goes back to its roots this year. Considering the first edition of Malaysia’s premier international bike race was contested by amateur teams back in 1996, with the overall victory going to the late Australian Damian McDonald, it all started for the professionals in Kota Kinabalu in 1997. For the second time only, the 25th edition of Le Tour de Langkawi kicks off from the Sabah state on the island of Borneo, with a criterium this Friday before the race proper from Kuching on February 7 to Langkawi on February 14. In addition, a new UCI 1.1 race, the Malaysian International Classic, will be held the following day.

Hideto Nakane (Nippo Delko One Provence) took victory on stage 6 of the Tour de Langkawi in Penang, pipping breakaway companion Gleb Brussenskiy (Vino-Astana Motors) to the line in a tight finish with under-23 world champion Samuele Battistella (NTT Pro Cycling) rounding off the podium, his first as a professional.

Nakane, a new signing at the French squad, became the fifth Japanese stage winner in the race’s history, after Koji Fukushima (2005), Shinichi Fukushima (2007), Taiji Nishitani (2010) and Takeaki Ayabe (2011).

“For me, this is huge,” Nakane explained after the stage, his first pro victory. “It’s bigger than winning the best Asian rider competition, which I did at Le Tour de Langkawi in 2017. I remember very well when Ayabe won in the Cameron Highlands nine years ago. Later on, he was my teammate at Aisan.

“I managed to win today because I was very serene. I saw an opportunity to escape at the end [with Brussenskiy] and I knew that our sprinter Riccardo Minali was right behind us in the bunch and ready to take over should we get caught.”

Overall leader Danilo Celano (Team Sapura Cycling) retained the top spot with no trouble, and was spotted a few times at the back of the pack while there was some action at the front. “It was a hard stage with the hills at the end but also at the beginning because of the fast start,” he said later.

The first breakaway took shape 35km into the stage with Pierre Rolland (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept), Jeroen Meijers (SSIOS Miogee), Drew Morey (TSG Terengganu) and Samuel Boardman (Wildlife Generation) in the move, but it was short lived as Sapura were reluctant to give much leeway to their arch-rivals TSG.

Rolland counter-attacked to reach the trio that escaped before the 13km long Penang bridge: it was Meijers again, along with Ben Van Dam (Bridgelane) and Thurakit Boonrathanathanakorn (Thailand Continental Team).

Being 13th overall at 3:22, Meijers briefly became the virtual leader when a maximum time gap of 3:25 was recorded on the first climb on the Penang island, before the second one that saw several splits in the peloton and a regrouping at 26km to go.

Nakane and Brussenskiy anticipated the expected bunch gallop on a short climb along the sea after an acceleration by runner up Yevgeniy Fedorov (Vino-Astana Motors) with 6km to go.

A photo finish was needed to determine the winner between the Japanese rider and the Kazakhstani. “I saw myself as the winner as we crossed the line,” said Nakane who is also riding for GC and moved up from seventh to sixth overall thanks to the time bonuses.

“I’ve been a little bit unfortunate that the breakaway stayed away,” Battistella told Cyclingnews before the prize ceremony. “However, I’m still happy because this is my first podium as a pro rider. It’s been a difficult week because I’ve suffered food poisoning in the first days of the race.

“But as I felt better, I kept my motivation high as I knew it could be a good stage for me today. I’ve tested myself in the last kilometre of the last climb and I’ve felt that I had very good legs and I could have done a good result.”

A bunch sprint is expected in the penultimate stage to Alor Setar before the tricky hilly circuit on the Langkawi Island rounds off the race on Friday.

Results :
1 Hideto Nakane (Jpn) Nippo Delko One Provence 3:29:15
2 Gleb Brussenskiy (Kaz) Vino – Astana Motors
3 Samuele Battistella (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling Team 0:00:04
4 Quentin Pacher (Fra) B&B Hotels – Vital Concept
5 Carlos Julian Quintero Noreña (Col) Terengganu Inc. TSG Cycling Team
6 Michael Vink (NZl) St George Continental Cycling Team
7 Pierpaolo Ficara (Ita) Team Sapura Cycling
8 Metkel Eyob (Eri) Terengganu Inc. TSG Cycling Team
9 Ahmad Yoga Ilham Firdaus (Ina) PGN Road Cycling Team
10 Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Vini Zabu – KTM
11 Kevin Rivera Serrano (CRc) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
12 Louis Meintjes (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling Team
13 Yevgeniy Fedorov (Kaz) Vino – Astana Motors
14 Maximilian Richard Walscheid (Ger) NTT Pro Cycling Team 0:00:08
15 Riccardo Minali (Ita) Nippo Delko One Provence
16 Luca Pacioni (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
17 Giovanni Lonardi (Ita) Bardiani – CSF – Faizane
18 Kakeru Omae (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team
19 Dusan Rajovic (Srb) Nippo Delko One Provence
20 Hiu Fung Choy (HKg) HKSI Pro Cycling
21 Alexander Cowan (Can) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling
22 Georgios Bouglas (Gre) SSOIS Miogee Cycling Team
23 Keigo Kusaba (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team
24 Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Vini Zabu – KTM
25 Juan-Pierre Van der Merwe (RSA) Team Bridgelane
26 Sarawut Sirironnachai (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team
27 Peerapol Chawchiangkwang (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team
28 Matvey Nikitin (Kaz) Vino – Astana Motors
29 Jamalidin Novardianto (Ina) PGN Road Cycling Team
30 Alex Hoehn (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling
31 Danilo Celano (Ita) Team Sapura Cycling
32 Drew Morey (Aus) Terengganu Inc. TSG Cycling Team
33 Masakazu Ito (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team
34 Thurakit Boonratanathanakorn (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team
35 Thanakhan Chaiyasombat (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team
36 Kota Sumiyoshi (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team
37 Ho San Chiu (HKg) HKSI Pro Cycling
38 Artem Ovechkin (Rus) Terengganu Inc. TSG Cycling Team
39 Rylee Field (Aus) Team Bridgelane
40 Cristian Raileanu (Mda) Team Sapura Cycling
41 Jamal Hibatullah (Ina) PGN Road Cycling Team
42 Sandy Hasan (Ina) PGN Road Cycling Team
43 Ka Hoo Fung (HKg) HKSI Pro Cycling
44 Igor Chzhan (Kaz) Vino – Astana Motors
45 Yuzuru Suzuki (Jpn) Utsunomiya Blitzen
46 Nariyuki Masuda (Jpn) Utsunomiya Blitzen
47 Pierre Rolland (Fra) B&B Hotels – Vital Concept
48 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) NTT Pro Cycling Team
49 Cyril Gautier (Fra) B&B Hotels – Vital Concept
50 Jeroen Meijers (Ned) SSOIS Miogee Cycling Team
51 Muhamad Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling 0:00:19
52 Ben Van Dam (Aus) Team Bridgelane
53 Jihun Kim (Kor) KSPO Professional 0:05:09
54 Jaehyun Kim (Kor) KSPO Professional
55 Kent Ross (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling
56 Alexandr Ovsyannikov (Kaz) Vino – Astana Motors 0:05:17
57 Mattia Viel (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec 0:07:56
58 Michael Carbel Svendgaard (Den) NTT Pro Cycling Team
59 Aiman Cahyadi (Ina) PGN Road Cycling Team
60 Amarni Drake (Aus) Ara Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
61 Zack Gilmore (Aus) Ara Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
62 Mohamad Izzat Hilmi Abdul Halil (Mas) Malaysia
63 James Harvey (NZl) St George Continental Cycling Team
64 Muhammad Danieal Haikkal Edy Suhaidee (Mas) Malaysia
65 Alexandr Semenov (Kaz) Vino – Astana Motors
66 Lucas De Rossi (Fra) Nippo Delko One Provence
67 Alessandro Iacchi (Ita) Vini Zabu – KTM
68 Dominic Perez (Phi) SSOIS Miogee Cycling Team
69 Edgar Nohales Nieto (Spa) SSOIS Miogee Cycling Team
70 Fabio Mazzucco (Ita) Bardiani – CSF – Faizane
71 Hayato Okamoto (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team
72 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) Bardiani – CSF – Faizane
73 Cormac Mcgeough (Irl) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling
74 Leonardo Tortomasi (Ita) Vini Zabu – KTM
75 Andre Looij (Ned) SSOIS Miogee Cycling Team
76 Bernard Benyamin Van Aert (Ina) PGN Road Cycling Team
77 Ariya Phounsavath (Lao) Thailand Continental Cycling Team
78 Taj Jones (Aus) Ara Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
79 Muhammad Ameer Ahmad Kamal (Mas) Malaysia
80 Mohd Harrif Saleh (Mas) Terengganu Inc. TSG Cycling Team
81 Sofian Nabil Omar Mohd Bakri (Mas) Malaysia
82 Alessandro Pessot (Ita) Bardiani – CSF – Faizane
83 Siu Wai Ko (HKg) HKSI Pro Cycling
84 Navuti Liphongyu (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team
85 Burr Ho (HKg) HKSI Pro Cycling
86 Ryu Suzuki (Jpn) Utsunomiya Blitzen
87 Kaito Nakamura (Jpn) Utsunomiya Blitzen
88 Alistair Donohoe (Aus) Ara Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:08:49
89 Daniel Savini (Ita) Bardiani – CSF – Faizane
90 Simone Bevilacqua (Ita) Vini Zabu – KTM
91 Fabricio Ferrari Barcelo (Uru) SSOIS Miogee Cycling Team
92 Alessandro Monaco (Ita) Bardiani – CSF – Faizane
93 Kyoungho Park (Kor) KSPO Professional
94 Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) B&B Hotels – Vital Concept 0:12:47
95 Carter Bettles (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:15:23
96 Kookhyun Kim (Kor) KSPO Professional 0:17:36
97 Soonyeong Kwon (Kor) KSPO Professional
98 Samuel Boardman (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling
98 Matthew Rice (Aus) Ara Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
98 Nicola Venchiarutti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
98 Gwangho Shin (Kor) KSPO Professional
98 Masahiro Ishigami (Jpn) Nippo Delko One Provence
98 Shotaro Iribe (Jpn) NTT Pro Cycling Team
104 Mattia Bevilacqua (Ita) Vini Zabu – KTM
105 Mathew Zenovich (NZl) St George Continental Cycling Team
106 Jay Dutton (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team
107 Wan Yau Vincent Lau (HKg) HKSI Pro Cycling
108 Anuar Manan (Mas) Malaysia
109 Hiroki Nishimura (Jpn) Utsunomiya Blitzen
110 Nik Mohd Azwan Zulkiflie (Mas) Malaysia
111 Nur Amirull Fakhruddin Mazuki (Mas) Terengganu Inc. TSG Cycling Team
112 Stuart Shaw (Aus) Ara Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
113 Tristan Ward (Aus) Team Bridgelane
114 Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) Team Sapura Cycling
115 Ahmet Orken (Tur) Team Sapura Cycling
116 Justin Mottier (Fra) B&B Hotels – Vital Concept
117 Johan Le Bon (Fra) B&B Hotels – Vital Concept

General Classification after Stage 6 :
1 Danilo Celano (Ita) Team Sapura Cycling 21:17:33
2 Yevgeniy Fedorov (Kaz) Vino – Astana Motors 0:00:26
3 Artem Ovechkin (Rus) Terengganu Inc. TSG Cycling Team 0:00:35
4 Pierpaolo Ficara (Ita) Team Sapura Cycling 0:01:07
5 Quentin Pacher (Fra) B&B Hotels – Vital Concept 0:01:09
6 Hideto Nakane (Jpn) Nippo Delko One Provence 0:01:34
7 Cristian Raileanu (Mda) Team Sapura Cycling 0:01:36
8 Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Vini Zabu – KTM 0:01:56
9 Carlos Julian Quintero Noreña (Col) Terengganu Inc. TSG Cycling Team 0:01:59
10 Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Vini Zabu – KTM 0:02:12
11 Louis Meintjes (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling Team 0:02:18
12 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) NTT Pro Cycling Team 0:02:40
13 Jeroen Meijers (Ned) SSOIS Miogee Cycling Team 0:03:21
14 Ka Hoo Fung (HKg) HKSI Pro Cycling 0:03:54
15 Jamal Hibatullah (Ina) PGN Road Cycling Team 0:04:29
16 Alex Hoehn (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling 0:04:33
17 Thanakhan Chaiyasombat (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team 0:04:44
18 Peerapol Chawchiangkwang (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team 0:04:51
19 Drew Morey (Aus) Terengganu Inc. TSG Cycling Team 0:05:05
20 Igor Chzhan (Kaz) Vino – Astana Motors
21 Hiu Fung Choy (HKg) HKSI Pro Cycling 0:05:46
22 Alexander Cowan (Can) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling 0:06:31
23 Matvey Nikitin (Kaz) Vino – Astana Motors 0:07:28
24 Nariyuki Masuda (Jpn) Utsunomiya Blitzen 0:08:17
25 Metkel Eyob (Eri) Terengganu Inc. TSG Cycling Team 0:08:23
26 Giovanni Lonardi (Ita) Bardiani – CSF – Faizane 0:08:32
27 Ho San Chiu (HKg) HKSI Pro Cycling 0:09:02
28 Masakazu Ito (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 0:09:13
29 Cyril Gautier (Fra) B&B Hotels – Vital Concept 0:09:36
30 Pierre Rolland (Fra) B&B Hotels – Vital Concept 0:09:38
31 Ahmad Yoga Ilham Firdaus (Ina) PGN Road Cycling Team 0:10:02
32 Kevin Rivera Serrano (CRc) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec 0:10:32
33 Yuzuru Suzuki (Jpn) Utsunomiya Blitzen 0:11:28
34 Muhamad Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff (Mas) Team Sapura Cycling 0:12:29
35 Kota Sumiyoshi (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 0:12:37
36 Sandy Hasan (Ina) PGN Road Cycling Team 0:12:53
37 Thurakit Boonratanathanakorn (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team 0:14:01
38 Lucas De Rossi (Fra) Nippo Delko One Provence 0:14:13
39 Samuele Battistella (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling Team 0:15:12
40 Gleb Brussenskiy (Kaz) Vino – Astana Motors 0:15:33
41 Juan-Pierre Van der Merwe (RSA) Team Bridgelane 0:16:27
42 Jamalidin Novardianto (Ina) PGN Road Cycling Team 0:16:38
43 Daniel Savini (Ita) Bardiani – CSF – Faizane 0:17:13
44 Muhammad Danieal Haikkal Edy Suhaidee (Mas) Malaysia 0:19:07
45 Ariya Phounsavath (Lao) Thailand Continental Cycling Team 0:19:16
46 Leonardo Tortomasi (Ita) Vini Zabu – KTM 0:19:35
47 Sarawut Sirironnachai (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team 0:20:34
48 Kent Ross (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling 0:20:52
49 Muhammad Ameer Ahmad Kamal (Mas) Malaysia 0:21:04
50 Aiman Cahyadi (Ina) PGN Road Cycling Team 0:21:38
51 Cormac Mcgeough (Irl) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling 0:22:33
52 Sofian Nabil Omar Mohd Bakri (Mas) Malaysia 0:22:44
53 Burr Ho (HKg) HKSI Pro Cycling 0:23:16
54 Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) Team Sapura Cycling 0:23:28
55 Georgios Bouglas (Gre) SSOIS Miogee Cycling Team 0:24:37
56 Luca Pacioni (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec 0:24:42
57 Michael Vink (NZl) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:25:26
58 Maximilian Richard Walscheid (Ger) NTT Pro Cycling Team 0:25:36
59 Rylee Field (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:26:30
60 Bernard Benyamin Van Aert (Ina) PGN Road Cycling Team 0:26:46
61 Dominic Perez (Phi) SSOIS Miogee Cycling Team 0:26:56
62 Amarni Drake (Aus) Ara Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:27:37
63 Edgar Nohales Nieto (Spa) SSOIS Miogee Cycling Team 0:27:40
64 Riccardo Minali (Ita) Nippo Delko One Provence 0:28:47
65 Dusan Rajovic (Srb) Nippo Delko One Provence
66 Fabio Mazzucco (Ita) Bardiani – CSF – Faizane 0:29:36
67 Michael Carbel Svendgaard (Den) NTT Pro Cycling Team 0:30:24
68 Ben Van Dam (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:31:10
69 Mohamad Izzat Hilmi Abdul Halil (Mas) Malaysia 0:32:29
70 Nik Mohd Azwan Zulkiflie (Mas) Malaysia 0:33:26
71 Alexandr Semenov (Kaz) Vino – Astana Motors 0:35:06
72 Kakeru Omae (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 0:35:49
73 Fabricio Ferrari Barcelo (Uru) SSOIS Miogee Cycling Team 0:36:10
74 Alessandro Monaco (Ita) Bardiani – CSF – Faizane 0:37:08
75 Nur Amirull Fakhruddin Mazuki (Mas) Terengganu Inc. TSG Cycling Team 0:37:17
76 Kaito Nakamura (Jpn) Utsunomiya Blitzen 0:38:27
77 Alessandro Pessot (Ita) Bardiani – CSF – Faizane 0:38:28
78 Alexandr Ovsyannikov (Kaz) Vino – Astana Motors 0:38:48
79 Tristan Ward (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:38:53
80 Alessandro Iacchi (Ita) Vini Zabu – KTM 0:39:11
81 Taj Jones (Aus) Ara Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:39:18
82 Jihun Kim (Kor) KSPO Professional 0:39:43
83 Siu Wai Ko (HKg) HKSI Pro Cycling 0:39:46
84 Mohd Harrif Saleh (Mas) Terengganu Inc. TSG Cycling Team 0:41:00
85 Mattia Viel (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec 0:41:12
86 Navuti Liphongyu (Tha) Thailand Continental Cycling Team 0:41:13
87 Ahmet Orken (Tur) Team Sapura Cycling 0:41:59
88 Simone Bevilacqua (Ita) Vini Zabu – KTM 0:42:08
89 Mattia Bevilacqua (Ita) Vini Zabu – KTM 0:42:09
90 Andre Looij (Ned) SSOIS Miogee Cycling Team 0:42:32
91 Hiroki Nishimura (Jpn) Utsunomiya Blitzen 0:42:45
92 Justin Mottier (Fra) B&B Hotels – Vital Concept 0:43:27
93 Ryu Suzuki (Jpn) Utsunomiya Blitzen 0:44:50
94 Johan Le Bon (Fra) B&B Hotels – Vital Concept 0:44:52
95 Jaehyun Kim (Kor) KSPO Professional 0:44:54
96 Samuel Boardman (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling 0:45:04
97 Alistair Donohoe (Aus) Ara Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:45:26
98 Keigo Kusaba (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 0:46:36
99 James Harvey (NZl) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:49:27
100 Mathew Zenovich (NZl) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:49:35
101 Soonyeong Kwon (Kor) KSPO Professional 0:50:56
102 Carter Bettles (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:51:19
103 Hayato Okamoto (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 0:52:06
104 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) Bardiani – CSF – Faizane 0:52:25
105 Anuar Manan (Mas) Malaysia 0:53:23
106 Jay Dutton (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:53:32
107 Kyoungho Park (Kor) KSPO Professional 0:53:39
108 Wan Yau Vincent Lau (HKg) HKSI Pro Cycling 0:54:46
109 Nicola Venchiarutti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec 0:56:11
110 Masahiro Ishigami (Jpn) Nippo Delko One Provence 0:58:09
111 Shotaro Iribe (Jpn) NTT Pro Cycling Team 0:58:42
112 Kookhyun Kim (Kor) KSPO Professional 0:59:00
113 Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) B&B Hotels – Vital Concept 0:59:27
114 Zack Gilmore (Aus) Ara Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 1:01:06
115 Matthew Rice (Aus) Ara Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 1:03:00
116 Gwangho Shin (Kor) KSPO Professional 1:09:08
117 Stuart Shaw (Aus) Ara Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 1:16:55