Matthew Peace wasn't expecting to go to Le Tour de Langkawi, but a call less than two weeks out from the start, and just two days before the team was boarding a plane, changed all that – the British Picnic PostNL development squad rider was about to get his first start among the WorldTour team.
It was unexpected, but Peace was ready and prepared for what was to come, after all this was a path his older brother Oliver had taken last year, which perhaps gave the 19-year-old confidence to follow his brother into the Picnic PostNL development programme.
But, as he said of this pathway, "knowing what to expect and also doing it is two different things". This was especially true when this late season race was "a bit of a surprise" and there certainly hadn't been time to get set for the conditions, which proved a formidable foe.
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"It took me a couple days to get used to the heat and the humidity. It was completely different here because I was just in the UK and it was a bit cooler there," Peace told Cyclingnews on the sidelines of the race on stage 6, where even walking to sign-on was enough to work up a sweat.
"I didn't have pressure or expectation coming into the race. It was just learning, so it's just been a really nice experience."
Peace may not have gone into the race with any pressure but he certainly wasn't there to make up numbers, with the plan being that he would support their main GC option Mattia Gaffuri. The Italian, however, had a brutal run at the event, first having to grapple with stomach problems on the first climbing stage on day two and then, when he was starting to feel better, crashing early and finding out afterwards that he had ridden much of the stage with a broken hand.
These days were certainly not ones that followed the plan but Peace was playing his part regardless, finishing 22nd on stage 2 to Gunung Jerai and 13th in the Cameron Highands, while there was than also a 21st in the Genting Highlands.
"I'm quite happy with how it's been going. I've just been like holding on for as long as I can each day, and I seem to be performing quite well. And I was here to support Mattia, and he was hurt. So it was a bit unfortunate we lost him, but then I just did what I could," said Peace, with his efforts not ending in the mountains as there were also digs for the breaks in the later stages.
In the end he finished 19th overall, the youngest rider by far in the top 20. Importantly, it also gave him a one up in the sibling rivalry with his older brother Oliver, who came 42nd overall at the race in 2025, because, he joked, one of his targets was "trying to do better than he [Oliver] did last year".
Even though this was Peace's very first race with the top-tier team, and indeed his first ProTour level race, such are the hopes for the talented British rider that when we spoke to his sports director Melvin Rulliere mid-way through the race, he seemed pleased, and not in the least surprised by the performance of the youngest member of the squad.
"A year ago he was fifth in the World Championship Junior, and we know now how the young kids are ready to race. So he is in a role where he is here to support a leader and learn from from that. But yeah, in terms of potential, he has everything, absolutely everything," Rulliere said.
"For sure, he will be a good rider. Physically, he climbs really well, but also he has a really good aptitude in riding a flat stage."
*Cyclingnews attended Le Tour de Langkawi on an invitation/media package from the race that included travel and accommodation. In line with our editorial standards, our coverage is independent and was not subject to review, approval or influence by the organiser or any sponsor; no favourable coverage was promised or given in return.
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