Coquard nets Langkawi stage victory in Tanah Merah

First-year professional Bryan Coquard netted the biggest win of his young career on Stage 8 at Tour de Langakwi, leaving Andy Fenn (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step) and Stage 6 winner Francesco Chicchi (Vini Fantini - Selle Italia) to battle for second and third respectively. The win is Coquard's third victory of the year after taking two stages at the recent French race Étoile de Bessèges. Julián Arredondo (Team Nippo - De Rosa) finished safely in the bunch to retain his overall lead over Pieter Weening (Orica GreenEdge).

It was another day of patchy showers on Stage 8 from Kuala Teengganu to Tanah Merah but thankfully the peloton were not subject to the deluge experienced a few days earlier. It was however, a wet affair at the end of the 164.5km stage which had been dominated but a long-range two man break.

The boulevard-style finish was only just won by Coquard who just had enough to time to look over his shoulder before confirming his victory into Tanah Merah. Fenn and Chicchi threw for the line to claim their respective second and third places while points leader Andrea Guardini was never in contention for the win after getting stuck between the OPQS and Vini Fantini duo.

"The sprint was difficult, with a lot of fight," Coquard told Cyclingnews while catching his breath after the finish.

"At 500m Kévin Reza launched me and after at 200m I was on the wheel of Chicchi and I started my sprint. I am so happy because the win at Tour de Langkawi has been difficult for me.

"I broke my derailleur [one day] and yesterday my legs were no good.

"Today, I am very happy. It's my third win for the year. It's a very good day for Europcar and for me."

Coquard had made a promise to his Europcar director to show-off his celebratory tatoo - if he was to win and stage - and he made good by pulling back his right sleeve to reveal the Olympic rings and the words "Silver LONDON". Coquard won a silver medal at the London Games in the omnium ahead of his debut season with Europcar for the 2013 season.

"Before coming to this race I had a challenge with my sport director that if I win a stage I will have to show this tatoo. I'm very proud of this tatoo because the silver medal for me at the Olympic Games is my best memory to date."

Furious start to another rain-soaked day

With just a few stages remaining at Le Tour de Langkawi it appears that many in the bunch are keener than ever to get result before the race finale into Kuala Terengganu on Saturday. The race director pulled in the flag shortly after the departing town of Tasik Kenyir and the attacks began but the right composition was never quite right.

The bunch covered 25km in the first 30 minutes of racing putting many tired legs under pressure but the pace failed to drop as groups continued to launch off the front.

It wasn't until just before 50km that two riders were finally excused from bunch attendance duties. Wen Low Ji (OCBC) and Jianpeng Liu (Hengxiang Cycling Team) took off and the bunch eased off, giving respite from an aggressive start. The rain continued on-and-off but thankfully not to the same degree as a couple of days earlier.

The two steadily stretched their lead to a maximum advantage of nearly 11 minutes after passing the halfway point in the 164.5km stage. Low Ji took maximum points at the first intermediate sprint at 63.9km while Liu crossed over in first place at 95.8km. Meanwhile, back in the bunch riders were fighting for precious seconds.

Nathan Haas was desperately trying to gain a couple of second's where he could but was pipped on the first two opportunities until finally taking a one-second bonus at the third sprint after 125km. Haas needs eight-seconds to move ahead of former yellow jersey wearer Meiyin Wang, who now lies in 5th overall.

The gap had been severely reduced under the impetus of Astana, Garmin and Vini Fantini but with less than 15km remaining Liu was alone out front with a glimmer of hope to hold of the peloton. Liu was finally caught inside the final 10km and the sprinter teams were organising themselves for the paved finishing straight into Tanah Merah.

There was little wind in the finale and with riders spread across the boulevard it was anyone's to win. The young Coquard was however, too quick for rivals with second-year pro Fenn taking a close-fought second-place in front of veteran Francesco Chicchi.

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