FRASER’S HILL: TotalEnergies rider, Joris Delbove, pulled off an upset by winning the challenging Stage 5 of the PETRONAS Le Tour de Langkawi 2025 (PLTdL25) from Temerloh, Pahang to Fraser’s Hill today.
Considered the Queen Stage due to the ‘absence’ of Genting Highlands and Cameron Highlands this year, the 25-year-old Delbove waited for the perfect moment to break away from a group of 17 riders before overpowering his two rivals in the final 5km. Anders Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) finished second, followed by Yanis Voisard (Tudor Cycling Team).
The 17-rider group completed the 123.1km stage in 3 hours 25 seconds, and Delbove earned a 10 second time bonus to elevate him to the New Overall Leader – earning him the PETRONAS Green Jersey.
Delbove now has an accumulated time of 16 hours 16 minutes 34 seconds, taking the top spot in the overall individual classification from XDS-Astana rider, Matteo Malucelli, who had worn the jersey since Stage 1 in Langkawi.
However, the Green Jersey lead is considered ‘fragile’ and could change hands again, as Johannessen and Adrien Maire (Unibet Tietema Rockets) are separated by just 6 seconds behind, followed by Voisard (10s).
“This is a great achievement. I’m happy to give something back to the team. It’s a new chapter in my career, and I don’t realize how big this win is yet. When I was in the front group, I followed Johannessen and an Astana rider, and I saw a chance to attack with 3km remaining, but they tried to chase, and I managed to hold on until the finish line,” said Delbove, who had a stage win at the Tour of Rwanda two months ago and the Tour of Alsace last year.
Delbove stated that he will strive to defend the Green Jersey in the remaining stages, as a 6-second advantage is very slim.
Meanwhile, Malucelli still hold the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) Orange Jersey (Sprint King) and is comfortable with a 24-point lead over his closest rival, Erlend Blikra (Uno-X). “It was expected, and I’m still happy with the Sprint King jersey.The points difference is quite comfortable. Perhaps my role now will change – try and help my teammate Nicolya (Vinokourov) challenge for the Green Jersey,” he said at the press conference after Stage 5.
Nicolya, the son of legend Alexandr Vinokourov, finished fourth place and seized the Rakan Muda White Jersey for the Best Asian Rider, which was previously held by Vadim Pronskiy (TSG). He now holds a 39-second advantage over his closest challenger from Mongolia, Jambaljamts Sainbayar, representing Burgos Burpellet BH, while the Thailand Continental Team rider is 1:29s behind.
The BubblesO2 Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains) is still held by Team Picnic PostNL rider, Patrick Eddy, who finished the stage in 33rd place but remains on top with 15 points, despite only 10 points being awarded to the Stage 5 winner. This task is viewed as difficult, however, as Eddy only has two teammates remaining after Christian Van Rees became one of two riders who failed to finish (DNF) the stage.
Earlier, 114 riders were flagged off in front of the Temerloh Bus Terminal by Pahang State Executive Councillor for Islamic Religious Affairs, Rural Development and Orang Asli Affairs, Datuk Seri Syed Ibrahim Syed Ahmad, and PETRONAS East Coast Stakeholder Relations Head, Ahmad Shazly Ramli, at 11.15 am under hot weather.
As seen in previous stages, there was an early breakaway attempt with 7 riders gaining a gap of up to 2 minutes 40 seconds: Nicolas Mercerou (TotalEnergies), Vojtech Kminek (Burgos), Nur Aiman Rosli (TSG), Yauhen Sobal (Chengdu-DYC), Eduoard Bonnefoix (7-Eleven), Yusri Shaari (Malaysia) and Zeb Kyffin (Unibet Tietema Rockets).
This front group dominated the first three sprint zones, with Kyffin, Mercerou and Kminek at the first sprint in Mentakab (km15.3); Nur Aiman, Mercerou and Kminek at the second sprint (Bukit Damar); and Kyffin, Mercerou, and Yusri at the third sprint in Mempaga (km54.8).
Nur Aiman also led the Category 3 climb zone in Raub (km83.6), followed by Bonnefoix and Kyffin, but the peloton increased its tempo to catch the front group about 20km from the finish line.
Stage 6 of PLTdL25 continues tomorrow with a short stage from Shah Alam to Port Dickson, covering a distance of 123.5km. It will start at Dataran Kemerdekaan Shah Alam at 9am and finish in front of the Royal Port Dickson Yacht Club, featuring three sprint zones at Jenjarom (km25.2), Banting (km36.9) and Sungai Pelek (km85.6).
The 29th edition of the PLTdL25, with a total distance of 1,224.2km, is listed as a 2.ProSeries race on the UCI Asia Tour calendar and will conclude with Stage 8 from Tangkak to KLCC this Sunday.
It is organized by the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) through the National Sports Council (MSN) in collaboration with the Malaysia National Cycling Federation (MNCF).
