THE curtains have come down on another successful edition of PETRONAS Le Tour de Langkawi and the 29th season of the UCI ProSeries tour (Sept 28-Oct 5) certainly did not disappoint.
There was plenty of world-class action to be savoured across a variety of terrain, highlighting the diverse beauty that Malaysia has to offer.
In the end, Team TotalEnergies’ Joris Delbove won the PETRONAS Green Jersey by the slimmest of margins, just three seconds, over second-placed Anders Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility).
It was the slimmest winning margin in the PETRONAS Le Tour de Langkawi general classification since the tour’s debut in 1996.
The general classification battle went down to the final day as the top-four riders were only separated by six seconds after the seventh stage.
PETRONAS Le Tour de Langkawi has made a name for itself as a sprinters’ tour over the years and there was also plenty of bunch sprint action to be enjoyed by the fans this year.
The early stages saw Matteo Malucelli (XDS Astana Team) and Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor Pro Cycling) – the last two winners of the KBS Orange jersey – resuming their rivalry from last season.
Malucelli won the first, third and fourth stages while de Kleijn won the second and the sixth stages.
Malucelli’s campaign, however, came to an early end after he crashed in the sixth stage and sustained injuries to his lower leg.
Norwegian legend Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility) also suffered a similar fate after crashing in the seventh stage (Melaka to Medini).
It was unfortunate for the former Tour of Flanders, Milan-San Remo and multiple Tour de France stage winner as he had chosen to compete in PETRONAS Le Tour de Langkawi as the final race of his career.
The tour, however, surprised him with a guard of honour at the start of the eighth stage as a fitting way to honour the great champion.
Kristoff sat on a rickshaw pedalled by Malaysian legend Anuar Manan through the guard of honour.
In the end, it was Kristoff’s teammate Erlend Blikra who won the KBS Orange Jersey (points classification) thanks to his consistent performances throughout the eight stages.
Three teams – Terengganu Cycling Team (TSG), Malaysia Pro Cycling (MPC) and the national team – carried Malaysian hopes in PETRONAS Le Tour de Langkawi this year.
TSG’s Nur Aiman Rosli was no doubt the most outstanding rider in the tour. Aiman was in the breakaway in almost every stage and even attempted three solo attacks.
The first (Kuala Terengganu-Kemaman) and second (Shah Alam-Port Dickson) were unsuccessful but he finally came good in the seventh stage as he rode to second place behind Unibet Tietema Rockets’ Zeb Kyffin.
The eighth and final stage was also won via a breakaway by XDS Astana’s Aaron Gate, who spoiled the party for the sprinters’ teams.
Team Picnic PostNL’s Patrick Eddy won the mountains classification (Bubbles O2 polka dot jersey) while XDS Astana Team’s Nicolas Vinokurov won the Asian riders’ classification (Rakan Muda white jersey).
This was the third consecutive edition organised by the National Sports Council and the event went smoothly, passing all requirements laid out by the UCI with flying colours.
Riders, fans and the media have already expressed their eagerness to come back to Malaysia for the tour again next year, proving that the event remains as popular as ever.
