Leezer takes solo win into Kuantan

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Tom Leezer took a solo victory into the town of Kuantan after an aggressive and wet day of racing on the longest stage at Tour de Langkawi. The Blanco rider left behind Ji Min Jung (KSPO) and Michal Golas (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step) to take the minor placings after riding away from a small breakaway group.

The solo victory provided the Blanco team with some consolation after two-time stage winner Theo Bos departed Malaysia in the morning of the stage after struggling with illness since Stage 3 to Cameron Highlands.

Leezer had been part of a 16-rider escape that formed with approximately 50km to go in the 217.5km stage before it began to fracture in the final 10km. The Dutchman, who took his first professional victory at Kuantan departed from his breakaway companions with 7km remaining and held off a chasing four-man group with the main peloton hot on their heels. Min Jung (KSPO) won the sprint for second place while Michal Golas (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step) finished third.

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"I'm really, really thrilled," said Leezer to Cyclingnews at the finish.

"At seven [kilometres] I rode off alone and kept hammering to the finish. In the end I succeeded.

"It's my first victory as a professional. I've waited for this for five years and it's finally happened," he added.

In what was a dramatic day of racing in near torrential conditions Julian Arredondo (Nippo – De Rosa) retained his lead in the overall classification but lost six-seconds to second-place Pieter Weening (Orica GreenEdge) when he finished behind the 23-rider front bunch that split on the final run to the line.

Soggy from start to finish

The peloton was missing one of the race's most successful riders this morning as Theo Bos failed to sign on for the tour's longest stage from Mentakab to Kuantan. Under overcast but warm conditions the peloton rolled out for what looked, on paper, to be another chance for the sprinters.

Yesterday's stage to Genting Highlands provided the most selective stage of the 10-day race but with five stages remaining there were clearly plenty of riders unwilling to sit back and watch Arredondo simply take another Langkawi title for Colombia.

Attacks were thick and fast as the rain continued to fall throughout the opening three hours of the stage. A number of GC contenders were looking to claw back time after the gruelling ascent to Genting on the day prior and were active in trying to break free of the main bunch.

Despite the intense day, which averaged nearly 49km/h for more than 150km, nothing was able to break the grip of the peloton for too long. Team Nippo was doing plenty of work on the front looking after Arredondo for what could prove to be a close-fought battle all the way to the final stage.

Finally a larger group established itself off the front with a little under 50km remaining. The 16-odd rider group quickly opened up a gap in excess of one minute with MTN Qhubeaka and Nippo – De Rosa controlling the pace of the peloton.

The breakaway contained Steele Von Hoff (Garmin Sharp), Travis Meyer, Wesley Sulzberger (Orica GreenEdge), Tom Leezer (Blanco), Michal Golas, Serge Pauwels, Pieter Serry (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step), Chad Beyer (Champion System), Cyrille Gautier, Pierre Rolland (Europcar), Jackson Rodriguez (Androni Giocatolli), Connor McConvey (Synergy – Baku) amongst a few others. The presence of Serry was impressive given his heavy fall the day before and was taken to hospital for x-rays that evening. 

Despite the work behind the escapees managed to hold their advantage at a little over one minute with 12km remaining. Rolland was the best placed of the breakaway, sitting in 15th overall 3:50 behind race leader Arredondo, posing the biggest threat to the general classification contenders back in the main peloton.

There was enough cohesion in the group to ensure the pace remained as Rolland punctured with around 10km to go - ending his day out front. The gap began to drop under the impetuous of the chasing peloton as Vini Fantini looking to set up Francesco Chicchi for his second stage victory.

Meyer took a flyer on the hesitating group and opened up a gap immediately. While some of the group looked for others to chase, four more riders went in pursuit of Meyer to create a new five-ride escape which included Leezer, Jung, Golas and Rodriguez.

It didn't take long for Leezer to sense the group may not stay away from the rapidly approaching peloton and jumped with 7km to go. The Dutchman was clearly motivated to make up for the loss of his roommate Bos, who had been struggling with illness for the past few days and left the race that morning, and pushed himself all the way to the line for his first professional win.