Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia—After taking the Malaysian criterium and placing second in the Kerteh stage, Max Walscheid of NTT Pro Cycling Team bagged the third leg of the 25th Petronas Le Tour de Langkawi.
The German sprinter edged out Nippo Delko Provence’s Minali Riccardo and Ahmet Orken of Team Sapura Cycling to secure the top position inside the commercial zone here in Kuala Lumpur, yesterday.
Walscheid bested the peloton in the last two-kilometer mad dash with the time of three hours, 51 minutes and 42 seconds.
Walscheid praised his team’s support during the whole race.
“I am happy with the stage win, it was all thanks to my team for believing me,” said Walscheid
“For tomorrow I will be the one supporting them in climbing the Genting Highlands,” he added.
He also snatched the green jersey (best sprinter) from the leader Yevgeniy Fedorov and moving to the third position from second stage winner Taj Jones in the individual general classification.
Vino-Astana Motors’ Fedorov intelligently stayed inside the peloton and protected his yellow and white jerseys against close rival Thurakit Boonratanathanakorn of Thailand Continental Cycling team.
Malaysian local hotshot Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff of Team Sapura Cycling wore the red jersey from Resorts World Genting after a solid performance in the climb.
Vino-Astana Motors also fortified the hold of team general classification with a combined time of 29 hours, 27 minutes and 10 seconds with Thailand Continental Cycling team tailing with three seconds difference and Bardiani CSF Faizane’ remained in third with +01:17.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahatmir bin Mohamad graced the sporting event to show his support in the annual cycling tournament in which he is part of its conception way back in 1996.
Today the 121 cyclist will take the most talk about stage, the 156.1-kilometer Putrajaya to Genting Highlands route. The terrain will test the best climbers with its steep hill and slopes.