Shaw-footed finale for Drapac-Porsche

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Malaysia saved its hottest day till last in this year's Tour de Langkawi, although two men seemingly not feeling the heat were ISD-Neri's José Rujano and Stuart Shaw.

The 2005 runner up went one better and could savour his overall victory in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, while Shaw scored another Australian victory - this time for Drapac-Porsche.

Having won yesterday's penultimate stage to Genting, the Venezuelan climber was again protected by his teammates inside the peloton as Australian rider Shaw finished the best of that bunch to take out the sprint and end Drapac-Porsche's race on a massive high.

The 32-year-old from Canberra recently had an appendisectomy and had 11 weeks off the bike. In his first race for five months he added a stage win to the mountains classification won by Peter McDonald courtesy of his points haul in the first KOM of the day. It was a finish to savour for the Australian team, the riders of which have featured throughout the week.

Some days the legs just feel right, and Shaw proved that's the case on a day when he spent the 133km stage doing domestique duties. It also shows that the team workers can get the accolades in front of the cameras, too.

"I came over here just to help the guys, getting water bottles... even today with 15km to go I was getting water bottles and helping Peter for the King of the Mountains and that sort of stuff," said Shaw afterwards. "I was trying to help Aldiq up to the front then I lost him somewhere and I got good position for the sprint - I was feeling alright so I thought I'd have a bit of a crack at it.

"Sprinting is something I do alright and I surprisingly felt good and comfortable. For me, a lot of it is just getting the position and because it's kind of crazy coming into the finish. I was strong enough to move up into a good position and with about 150 [metres] to go I knew I was going to have a chance to sprint," he continued.

Shaw is one of the most enthusiastic members of the Australian squad, and rode today's sprint with the confidence of a man who has won in Europe; he won last year's edition of the Tour de Gironde in France and made today's sprint look easy, given his earlier 'waterboy' duties.

"I know if I get near the end of a sprint, there aren't many guys who are going to beat me. I was happy with it - it's a good day for Drapac-Porsche."

Time to celebrate in the capital

Rujano was the overwhelming favourite as the 15th Tour de Langkawi began on Monday in Kota Bharu and he lived up to every expectation by taking the race by the scruff of the neck in the final 15km of yesterday's stage to Genting. There's buzz around his name as the Giro d'Italia approaches.

He explained that the Malaysian event was still a good early-season hitout in preparation for the Giro, despite the lack of more renowned climbers and big teams. "This year the rhythm of the race was pretty high because many riders were in good condition and the Asian riders are improving, getting better legs year after year.

"The team did great work for me and I'm very happy with the condition I have now and I have two months to go before the Giro d'Italia."

Rujano went into today's stage also in a position to take both mountains and overall clasifications, although as he admitted after the finish, it was the latter that held obvious appeal. "The most important thing for me was to win the yellow jersey - I tried on the KOM but on mountains that are only 100 metres long it isn't for me, therefore I couldn't keep the polka dot jersey. I've kept the yellow - that's the one I wanted," he said.

As for the winner of the mountains jersey - Peter McDonald - today's result is the culmination of a race where he's arguably been the most active rider on general classification throughout the event. "It's been a long week - there were lots of little climbs to take a point here and one there," he explained.

"Yesterday I was a bit disappointed; I missed out on a few opportunities leading up to the big climb, and then finished fourth up Genting but needed one more point to have the jersey. Today it worked out alright - my team did a good job to lead me out for the climb and we were very aggressive in the corners leading up to the ascent and we were able to take the points from that sprint," added McDonald.

The loudest cheer was saved for the winner of the sprint classification, the green jersey won by local boy Anuar Manan, who proved the most consistent fast man throughout the week despite Australian rider Michael Matthews actually winning more stages than the Malaysian.

He had signalled his intentions during yesterday's press conference - that he would try to win the final stage in the capital. It didn't stop the breakaway hopefuls however, as several escape groups formed in the latter kilometres of the day.

None were successful and the expected bunch gallop eventuated, albeit in a confused finale. "ISD and Footon attacked with two kilometres to go, so that dictated the sprint," explained Shaw. "No one really wanted to ride but Aisan came to the front and went pretty hard and I had 10th position; I was pretty happy with my position.

"Just as the race came together I had to keep riding out of the wind and moving myself up - I had a good enough position and then the Kelly [Benefit Strategies] guys went pretty hard at about 400m to go and I had about fifth wheel until 150m to go... when I sprinted I was just lucky I had the best legs."

Malaysia's first stage winner in the event and the sprint classification champion was obviously jubilant, despite being tired from a week of toil, every day spent accumulating points towards the jersey, much in the vein of McDonald's aforementioned endeavours.

"This is a very good result; I've got the green jersey and I've made it happen throughout all the race. I won one stage and now the green jersey... I'm very happy."