KUALA LUMPUR: Three seconds advantage – and it was more than enough for Joris Delbove of the TotalEnergies team to beat his closest rival for the General Classification (GC) champion of the 29th edition of the PETRONAS Le Tour de Langkawi 2025 (PLTdL25), which concluded in front of the PETRONAS Twin Towers (KLCC), yesterday.
Starting in Langkawi Island on September 28, the eight-stage ride covering a total distance of 1,224.2km took riders across all states in Peninsular Malaysia. That 3-second advantage may well be among the thinnest margins in the history of the PLTdL.
Besides enduring scorching heat and heavy rain throughout the eight days of competition, and true to the slogan BEAT THE HEAT, all teams with the main jersey holders showcased various strategies and tactical to fend off their challengers daily, resulting in a high quality of racing.
Despite the ‘absence’ of the Genting Highlands summit for the second consecutive year, the race was still considered tough. In addition to the early breakaway action that saw the average daily speed hit 45km/h, the number of riders forced to abandon also increased, such that only 98 of the 129 riders who started in Langkawi finished the race in KLCC yesterday.
XDS-Astana lived up to their elite WorldTeam status by dominating 4 out of 8 stages – three from Matteo Malucelli and the final stage from Aaron Gate in addition to the white Rakan Muda-sponsored Best Asian Rider jersey won by Nicolya Vinokourov.
However, Malucelli was unlucky and had to withdraw from the competition due to an injury sustained in a crash during Stage 6.
It was quite disappointing for another WorldTeam, Team Picnic PostNL, who failed to defend Max Poole’s green jersey last year and only returned home with the BubbleO2-sponsored King of the Mountain (KOM) jersey through Patrick Eddy.
For this edition, TotalEnergies, a French-registered ProTeam making its first appearance, returned with one stage victory and the coveted green jersey through Delbove, who displayed maturity in defending the jersey until the final stage.
Through Delbove’s efforts, TotalEnergies also climbed several spots in the latest UCI points ranking to sit at 21st place, surpassing WorldTeams such as Cofidis and Intermache-Wanty.
Uno-X Mobility returned with the orange King of Sprint jersey (Erland Blikra) while Anders Halland Johannessen finished second in the GC, helping the Norwegian ProTeam climb to 12th place overall, surpassing WorldTeam namely Movistar, Team Picnic PostNL, Groupama-FDJ, Team Jayco AIUla and Cofidis.
The only unfortunate note for Uno-X was when world legend Alexander Kristoff had to end his career a few days early due to injury. However, a special tribute ceremony for the rider in Tangkak yesterday became a sweet and historic moment for Kristoff and local cycling fans to remember.
Tudor Cycling Team, a ProTeam from Switzerland, also earned valuable points through two stage wins (Arvid de Klein) and Yannis Voisard’s third place overall (GC), helping to place Tudor at 15th in the world team rankings. Another ProTeam, Polti VisitMalta, was named the Best Team, while Nusantara BYC was the Best Asian Team for this year’s PLTdL edition.
For the local fans, the success of Terengganu Cycling Team (TSG) rider Muhammad Nur Aiman Rosli taking second place on the podium in Stage 7, was one of the reasons PLTdL25 was sweeter, coming after a long wait to see a local rider stand on the podium.
Overall, PLTdL25 can be considered a successful edition, whether in terms of the quality of competition, the safety of the organisation or the satisfaction of local fans who faithfully lined the routes and flooded the start and finish locations.
The question now is whether PLTdL25 will receive a high score and the ‘green light,’ as everything depends on the report by the UCI-appointed Commissaire Panel President, Daniele Balzi who declined to provide a detailed explanation of the report he will be completing.
“What’s certain is that I enjoyed my first time working in Malaysia and felt like I was in my own country. If there are complaints about long transfers between accommodation and the start or finish locations, that is normal in stage cycling and it also happens in Europe, including Italy.
“But I hope the organisers will strive to improve on even the smallest suggestions that will be included in the UCI report,” he said when met before the start of Stage 8 in Tangkak yesterday.
