PORT DICKSON: Arvid de Kleijn found himself back on the top step of the podium in a wet and miserable sixth stage of Petronas Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) today (Oct 3).
De Kleijn (Tudor Pro Cycling), who won stage two on Monday, navigated a tricky bunch sprint to claim the win in two hours and 32 minutes and 55 seconds after outkicking Uno-X Mobility’s Erlend Blikra to the line.
Manuel Penalver (Team Polti VisitMalta) came in third while Malaysia Pro Cycling’s (MPC) Izzat Hilmi Abdul Halil crossed the line fourth, the best finish by a Malaysian in this year’s tour. Alexander Kristoff, who lead-out Blikra, rounded out the top five.
The stage, which started in Shah Alam and ended in Port Dickson, was relatively short at 123.5 kilometres but was a tricky one to navigate as it rained for almost the entire race.
Points classification leader (orange jersey) Matteo Malucelli (XDS Astana Team) and Blikra crashed just over 10km into the race.
Blikra was able to resume but Malucelli, who has won three LTdL stages this year, was forced to abandon the tour due to injuries sustained in the crash.
Terengganu Cycling Team (TSG) duo Harrif Saleh and Vadim Pronskiy also suffered crashes. Harrif was able to resume but Vadim was forced to abandon the race.
De Kleijn was pleased with his performance but admitted that Malucelli’s misfortune did take some shine off his win.
“It is a shame that Malucelli crashed, it is sad, I would have liked to battle with him more. I wish him a speedy recovery,” said de Kleijn.
“It was a hectic bunch sprint, we (Tudor riders) stayed on the right and there was a deviation so it was tricky.
“But I just went on Blikra’s wheel and took the long way around as I did not want to risk getting blocked by Kristoff.
“Overall it was a super nice day for us as Yannis Voisard (Tudor) was also able to take three bonus seconds (after winning intermediate sprint at Jenjarom).”
Blikra now leads the points classification on 45 points with de Kleijn second, three points adrift. Penalver is third (37 points) overall.
Astana sporting director Mark Renshaw confirmed that Malucelli, who is in his first season with the UCI WorldTeam, sustained injuries to his leg in the crash.
“Currently, he is in an ambulance travelling to a hospital here in Port Dickson,” said Renshaw just after the race.
“He sustained a big impact to the bottom of his leg, but besides that I cannot yet confirm the extent of his injuries.
“The team doctors are also heading to the hospital now where they might do an x-ray to see what damage there is.”
Team TotalEnergies’ Joris Delbove, who won the queen stage in Fraser’s Hill yesterday, continues to lead the general classification (green jersey) with a six second advantage over second-placed Anders Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility).
Adrien Maire (Unibet Tietema Rockets) is third, also six seconds adrift, while Voisard is fourth overall (+7s). Astana’s Nicolas Vinokurov (+11s) rounds out the top five.
The seventh stage of LTdL tomorrow, which starts in Melaka and ends in Medini, will be the longest of the tour this year, covering 214.9km.
There will be intermediate sprints at Sungai Rambai, Semenyih and Pontian.
– Article source: www.nst.com.my
