Forster wins sprint in Jasin

Jonathan Monsalve (Androni Giocattoli) took the yellow jersey at the end of stage eight of the tour of Langkawi in Jasin. Monsalve picked up precious bonus seconds at two of the intermediate sprints to take the lead from Libardo Nino (Le Tua ProCycling Team) as veteran German Robert Forster (UnitedHealthcare) sprinted to stage victory ahead of Andre Schulze (CCC Polsat Polkowice) and Rico Rogers (Giant Kendra Asia).

“I must thank my team for the good work that has been done since the beginning of the stage,” said Monsalve. “At the first hot spot sprint I managed to finish second and got two seconds bonus that made me on equal time with Libardo. The team worked hard again to take me to the second hot spot sprint and as I was second there, I got another two seconds and I’m the leader of Le Tour de Langkawi,” Monsalve said.

Despite heavy rain, the stage got off to a flying start due to Androni Giocattoli’s blistering pace at the head of the peloton to set Monsalve up for the sprints.

“With such bad weather today with the rain, it has made the race harder and I was afraid that sprinters would contest the sprints but fortunately no one really sprinted,” said Monsalve.

“It was very difficult to gain those two seconds but I’ve also been very fast. I’m happy to now have a two second lead.”

Monsalve doesn’t consider himself the winner of the Tour yet, and expects a tight battle till the race concludes in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

“No, I cannot say that I have won the race. The team will work a lot in the last two stages and until I cross the finish line in Kuala Lumpur, I cannot say I am the winner,” Monsalve said.

David Pell (Drapac) was the first attacker of the day. He broke away from the peloton halfway through the stage and held an advantage of two and half minutes at the 90 kilometre mark of the 156 kilometre stage. He was caught in the final thirty kilometres and Omar Lombardy (Colnago CSF INOX Pro), Benjamin Gourgue (Landbouwkrediet) and Andre Krasilnikau (Chipotle Development Team) broke away and held a small advantage over the peloton.

They were caught in the final ten kilometres and the move was countered by Floris Goesinnen (Drapac). Goesinnen stayed out front for a few kilometres but the United Healthcare led peloton brought him back in the closing stages and in the end Forster sprinted to his first victory of the year.

“This is my first win of the season and it’s a great feeling,” said Forster. “The team worked hard yesterday and I finished second. They worked even harder today. I felt I had really good legs so I told my team to go full gas in the last kilometre. I passed the corner first and then I sprinted to the line and hoped nobody came from behind me.”

Asked if he could win again tomorrow Forster replied, “I don’t know. I hope it’s not raining tomorrow and we can ride an easier race.”

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