"They're not following. They don't know how good you are" were the words ringing in Zeb Kyffin's ears from his sports director in the moments after he made what is bound to be a career-changing move at the Petronas Le Tour de Langkawi: an inspired late dash with 15km to go to join forces with a lone rider who was fighting to hold off the pursuing bunch.
The winning move as the race roared toward Medini on stage 7 wasn't mapped out well in advance, in fact Kyffin said it was more like it was planned 20 seconds before he went. The only expectation the Unibet Tietema Rockets rider born in Britain had gone to Malaysia with was a desire to "show myself" and the rider without a contract for 2026 certainly fulfilled that aim.
"There was a bridge at, like, 20 kilometres to go, quite a big one, and I said to my friend, 'Do you reckon I should go here?' And he said, 'No, you'll get caught on the downhill. Go on the next one in six kilometres.'
"I sunk two gels, finished my water, made sure I had nothing else on me, and quite inconspicuously, just went up the inside of the guy on front from Tudor, who looked really tired. I thought, 'He's not going to respond to this. I'm just going to go', and I just settled into what I knew I could hold for 10-15 minutes and I just went all in."
That acceleration quickly bought him up to Malaysian champion Aiman Rosli (Terengganu) who had been out in the breakaway for most of the day and had just kept holding off the pursuit being led by Tudor Pro Cycling.
Once Kyffin was also there, the pair stretched the gap to the bunch to around a minute with 5km to go. The crowd was getting restless. Could the breakaway that included the ever-attacking Malaysian champion, who was riding to the line in his home state, actually defy the odds and make it to the line ahead of the bunch?
"I just committed as hard as possible to the line," said Kyffin. "I told myself that if Aiman rolls me, then so be it, but I'm going to get to the finish line."
He didn't roll him, however, and it was an emotional celebration on the line for Kyffin as a long-joked-of scenario turned into a reality.
"I have a friend who I train with a lot at home and every time I go to a race, he goes 'right - stage win from the breakaway. I can see it. I can see it.' It's a bit of a running joke and today I pulled it off," said Kyffin, "I think that's always in the back of my mind, that's the best way I can win a bike race."
His sixth place overall at the Tour of Britain in 2023 earned him his first pro contract. Now that he has a stage victory on his palmares, he is hopeful an opportunity to continue on in the sport and keep chasing more success will arise.
"I'm not the most well-known person. I don't have an agent. No one probably already knows I exist until I'm on the score sheet," Kyffin said. That result, however, already appears to be yielding dividends with the rider adding that he already had a message on his phone saying 'you have a contract now' and at that point the podium ceremony had barely been completed.
It's a scenario that perhaps holds even more weight because it has been a challenging period for Kyffin. He ruptured a disc in his spine last season and was out of training for three or four months late last year as a result. He started to rebuild through the season, coming 16th overall while working for others at the Tour of Hellas and 22nd at the Tour de Hongrie.
"But I've never had maybe the confidence or the belief to try something like this, and I knew I had really good form coming into this race. I did maybe my best ever training the week before I came here and I had to keep reminding myself that it's worth fighting for, it's worth pushing," said Kyffin.
"I wasn't afraid today to try, to be seen, to fail if I got caught and I think a huge part of the sport is to be prepared to fail, to try and pull something like this off. I know it's not the Tour de France … but everyone has their own journey. Everyone has their own stage and today, that was mine."
