PUTRAJAYA: Germany’s Lennart Jasch clinched his first professional general classification (GC) title as the Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) concluded with Stage Eight from Muar to Putrajaya today.
The Tudor Pro Cycling Team rider completed the eight-stage race in 28 hours, 57 minutes and two seconds, finishing 26 seconds ahead of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA’s Abel Balderstone.
Jasch’s teammate Jan Castellon was third, 42 seconds behind.
The 26-year-old also secured the polka dot jersey as king of the mountains with 45 points, ahead of Wheeltop Rotor Chengdu Team’s Petr Rikunov (41) and Castellon (26).
“I am very happy. It was another really difficult day. On paper, it might have looked easy, but it certainly was not, especially the last seven or eight kilometres.
“I am very grateful to the team and for all the support throughout the week. We should all be very proud of our performance,” said the former ice skater.
Jasch arrived in Malaysia as a new professional targeting a top-five finish, but his Stage Two victory at Gunung Jerai changed the team’s expectations.
“I came with high hopes and even higher ambitions, but actually winning here was something we could hardly believe.
“We thought perhaps I could finish in the top five. Then, after I won the second stage, we began to realise that perhaps I was the strongest rider,” he said.
The victory was also his first outside Europe, making his week in Malaysia particularly memorable.
“This means a lot. It is my first professional GC win and the first time I have won a race outside Italy.”
Jasch had already made LTdL history by becoming the first rider to win a stage finishing at Gunung Jerai. He held the orange leader’s jersey from Stage Two until the finish.
“Now I know I can be a good GC rider. I had hoped that before, but I needed to prove it,” he added.
XDS Astana’s Matteo Malucelli won the 188.3km final stage in four hours, five minutes and 17 seconds, ahead of Modern Adventure Pro Cycling’s Riley Pickrell, who clocked the same time. Team Picnic PostNL’s Christian Rees finished third.
Malucelli also secured the sprint classification with 64 points, followed by Pickrell (57) and Nil Gimeno (22).
Aisan Racing Team’s Yuhi Todome topped the Asian rider classification in 29:04:23, while Tsen Ren Bao was the highest-placed Malaysian in 25th overall.
– NST
