In what will be a big blow for Blanco Pro Cycling, Theo Bos - already with two stage wins to his name at the Le Tour de Langkawi - has been forced to withdraw from the rest of the Malaysian event before today's sixth stage, suffering from suspected food poisoning.
Bos potentially would have been going for his third stage win of the race on the 212.8km stage to Kuantan today and was disappointed to be going home.
"Yeah, it is shi*. I have to stop, I'm going home," he told Cyclingnews.
Bos, who wore the yellow jersey for two days late last week, was not entirely sure what has made him so ill and obviously depleted.
"Maybe it's from too much hand shaking, that's also not a very good thing to do," he said.
The 29-year-old flanked by teammates Tom Leezer and Graeme Brown, was one of the last riders across the finish line on Monday's mountainous stage, nearly a half-hour behind winner, Julián Arredondo (Team Nippo - De Rosa). Marc Goos remains the best-placed Blanco rider in the General Classification, the Dutchman 12:06 behind overall leader Arrendondo.