MALACCA: Italian sprint prodigy Andrea Guardini opened accounts in the Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) by winning the second stage from Putrajaya to Malacca, stamping his authority as the rider to beat in this year’s Tour.
The Farnese Vini rider benefited from a good lead-out from his team-mates Thomas Bertolini and Cristian Benenati to cross the line ahead of Jacobe Keough (United Healthcare), Christian Delle Stelle (Colnago CSF Inox) and Anuar Manan (Champion System). Guardini finished the 151km race in 3’35:19. David Zabriskie of Garmin-Barracuda retained the leader’s yellow jersey after finishing in the bunch, maintaining his lead of 1:00 ahead of Adam Phelan of Drapac Cycling in the general classification.
Final sprint: Farnese Vini rider Andrea Guardini (left) of Italy leading the way in the dash to the finish line during the second stage in Malacca yesterday. — Bernama“I came from three races (Tour of San Luis, Tour of Qatar and Tour of Oman) without a win and now I feel that I have the legs to bag a win,” said Guardini. “I thank my team-mates Bertolini and Benenati for doing a great job of putting me in the right position for the finish.”
Race leader Zabriskie was well protected in the peloton by his Garmin team-mates and it helped him retain the yellow jersey for another day. “The boys did a good job controlling the race today and I thank them for that,” said Zabriskie.
Yesterday’s race highlight was the breakaway led by OCBC Singapore’s Loh Sea Keong just before the first intermediate sprint zone at the 22.5km mark. The Kelantan-born Sea Keong was joined by Drapac Cycling’s Floris Goesinnen and the duo were let off the leash by the peloton and they built up a four-minute lead. With 25km to go before the finish, the gap narrowed down to 1:10 after Garmin took control of the peloton to set up a bunch finish.
The narrow brick road in the last 500m of the race made it difficult for riders as they jostled for spots to set up their final sprint. Anuar, meanwhile, had to fight his battle against Guardini alone after he lost the support of his Champion System team-mates leading up to the finish line.
“My team-mates (Aaron Kemps and Chris Butler) worked hard at the intermediate sprints to reel in the breakaway but they just ran out of gas toward the end. “I had to fight alone against Guardini who had the assistance of his team-mates but in the end, it’s not such a bad result for me,” said Anuar.
-thestar online.
www.ltdl.com.my
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