Matteo Malucelli (JCL Team UKYO) took his second stage win of Le Tour of Langkawi, complimenting his career highlight sprint won stage 2. His final sprint in the last 10 metres allowed him to overtake two Tudor Pro Cycling Team riders, Arvid de Kleijn and Maikel Zijlaard.
Malucelli's win on stage 2 was defined by a poorly timed celebration from Manuel Peñalver of Polti Kometa, but today no such confusion as the Italian rider sprinted ahead of the Tudor Pro Cycling duo.
British rider Max Poole (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) remains in the overall lead, 13 seconds ahead of JCL Team UKYO rider Thomas Pesenti.
In the final dash to the line, Malucelli was able to surge ahead of Zijlaard who was leading out his teammate.
“My teammates did a great job in today’s race. It was an amazing finish as I managed to overtake two Tudor riders at the end. All our hard work since the beginning of the race today paid off. In the last 3 kilometers, my teammate and I started looking for openings to position ourselves at the front,” Malucelli said.
“In the final 100 meters, I saw an opportunity and moved ahead to pass the two Tudor riders in the last 10 meters. I’m really happy with today’s win.”
De Kleijn, who won Stages 4 and 5, currently holds the Orange Jersey with 66 points, while Malucelli has 65 points.
“Of course, I’m quite disappointed for not winning today. At one point, the victory was within reach, but due to a slight mistake, I missed the opportunity. I hope to make up for this disappointment in the final stage tomorrow. This is my last chance to add a victory at LTdL while also defending my status as King of the Sprint,” de Klein said.
The Tour of Langkawi concludes with stage 8 on Sunday, a 147.5km loop starting and ending in Lasar Kenyalang.
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