Lennart Jasch (Tudor Pro Cycling Team, Germany) won the Tour de Langkawi (Malaysia), 8 stages from 27 September to 4 October, in 28h57’04”. Abel Balderstone Roumens (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, Spain) was second at 26″, with Jan Castellon Ribalta (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, Spain) third at 42″.
The race
The Tour de Langkawi was decided early. On the second stage, from Taiping to Gunung Jerai, Lennart Jasch won on the climb and took the orange leader’s jersey. He kept it from that day all the way to Putrajaya.
Jasch finished the race 26” ahead of Abel Balderstone Roumens and 42” ahead of Jan Castellon Ribalta. Both ride for Caja Rural-Seguros RGA: the Spanish team put two riders on the podium but could not take the jersey from him. After the third stage Jasch’s lead over Balderstone was 20”. The German had to defend it for five days.
Jasch also won the mountains classification, the polka-dot jersey. After the sixth stage he led with 45 points, ahead of Petr Rikunov with 41 and Castellon with 26. Those 45 points remained his to the end.
For the sprinters, Langkawi had an Italian master. Matteo Malucelli (XDS Astana) won the first stage, from Shah Alam to Kampar, and the third, from Sungai Petani to Kuala Kangsar: 189.7 km covered in 4h31’59” after a bunch sprint, ahead of Riley Pickrell and Seppe Van den Boer of Tudor. Malucelli said he passed Pickrell only in the last 20 metres and that he saw 42 degrees on his bike computer in the final stretch.
On the sixth stage, 121.3 km from Pandan Indah to Rembau, Pickrell (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling) took revenge on Malucelli, beating him on the line. Pickrell said that Kieran Haug, his team-mate, had got into the breakaway in the opening kilometres to force Astana to spend energy. Jasch kept the jersey, with a 42” lead over Castellon in the standings at that point.
The final stage, 188.3 km from Muar to Putrajaya, ended in a sprint. Malucelli won again, in 4h05’17”: his third stage win. Jasch came in 25th with the bunch and lost nothing.
For Jasch it is the first general classification he has won as a professional. At the start, he said, the team was thinking of a place in the top five. He said he had hoped for it, but first had to prove it.
The best-placed Italian is Luca Covili, Bardiani CSF 7 Saber, 14th at 5’31”. 108 riders finished out of 108 starters.
General classification
| # | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lennart Jasch | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | 28h57’04” |
| 2 | Abel Balderstone Roumens | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | +26″ |
| 3 | Jan Castellon Ribalta | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | +42″ |
| 4 | Jose Manuel Diaz Gallego | Burgos-Burpellet-Bh | +1’20” |
| 5 | Eivind Broholt Fougner | Unibet Rose Rockets | +1’37” |
| 6 | Jorge Gutierrez Gonzalez | Equipo Kern Pharma | +1’55” |
| 7 | Josh Burnett | Burgos-Burpellet-Bh | +2’56” |
| 8 | Mathias Bregnhøj | Terengganu Cycling Team | +2’58” |
| 9 | Mathis Le Berre | Totalenergies | +3’23” |
| 10 | Cedrik Bakke Christophersen | Unibet Rose Rockets | +3’30” |
News written with the help of Mnemosyne.
Sources
- Results and times: UCI, official results.
- Photo: Falkmart, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
