PORT DICKSON: After missing out on the podium in the previous three stages, Tudor Pro Cycling’s Arvid De Kleijn proved he still has the winning touch by storming to victory in Stage Six of the Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL).
The 123.5km race from Shah Alam to Port Dickson on Friday (Oct 3) was packed with drama as all 113 riders battled heavy rain, with several crashes taking place.
The most unfortunate incident involved XDS Astana’s Matteo Malucelli, who crashed just 16km into the race in Banting and suffered a serious injury to his left leg.
He was rushed to hospital and was forced to withdraw from the stage.
With Malucelli – a three-time stage winner and holder of the orange sprinter’s jersey – out of contention, other riders seized the chance to step up the pace despite the downpour.
De Kleijn showed his class in the bunch sprint, crossing the line first in 2’32:55s and earning a 10-second bonus.
Erlend Blikra of Uno-X Mobility finished second, while Manuel Penalver of Team Polti VisitMalta came in third.
“First of all, I have to say it’s really unfortunate that Matteo Malucelli was involved in that crash. It’s sad. I was hoping to compete more with him but that’s just how things go. I hope he recovers soon.
“The stage itself was quite chaotic, as we expected. It was full-on racing all the way but it was a lot of fun. We managed to pick up three seconds with Yannis (Voisard).
“In the end, we controlled the race and took the win. So it was a perfect day for us,” said De Kleijn.
This was De Kleijn’s second stage win of the race, following his earlier triumph in Stage Two from Padang Besar to Kepala Batas.
There were no changes to the green jersey, with TotalEnergies’ Joris Delbova still leading the general classification.
Nicolya Vinokurov from XDS Astana retained the white jersey as the Best Asian Rider, while Team Picnic PostNL’s Patrick Eddy kept the polka dot jersey as King of the Mountains.
The only change came in the orange jersey, with Blikra taking over as the new points leader on 45 points, just ahead of De Kleijn on 42.
There was some consolation for Malaysia as young rider Kee Zhe Yie was named the Most Combative Rider, while Izzat Hilmi Abdul Halil was honoured as the Best Asean Rider of the stage.
– The Star
