Palini wins stage 2 of Le Tour de Langkawi

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Andrea Palini of Skydive Dubai outsprinted race leader Andrea Guardini on the finishing line of stage 2 of the Tour de Langkawi in Georgetown. China’s Wang Meiyin missed out on taking the yellow jersey due to a split in the peloton after another breakaway that saw him accumulating points for the King of the Mountains competition he targets and the points classification he now leads.

Stage 2 of the 21st edition will remain a memorable one in the history of Le Tour de Langkawi as the race returned to the island of Penang via the 24km long second bridge with the 5km long Teluk Bahang hill located 30km before the end.

“This is one of my most beautiful victories,” Palini told Cyclingnews after the finish. “I’ve beaten the most explosive sprinter in the world at this time of the year. [Marcel] Kittel has an impressive power for winning sprints from far out but talking about pure speed, Guardini is the best. I’m delighted to beat him today, also because he was on my wheel, so we’ve played with equal chances to win the stage.”

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After 22 kilometres of racing, Wang found the way to escape for the second day in a row along with Loh Sea Keong (Malaysia national team), Sofian Nabil (NSC), Gong Hyo Suk (KSPO) and Jamilidin Navardianto (Pegasus).They got a maximum advantage of 4.15 at km 50. As Wang won all three intermediate sprints, he collected nine seconds of time bonus, which put him in a virtual position of race leader with the perspective of taking the yellow jersey, shall Guardini not be the stage winner.

Astana pulled the bunch but didn’t catch the remaining three breakaway riders, Wang, Loh and Nabil, before the summit of Teluk Bahang with 30km to go. In the end, it all came together 11km before the end of the race. All elements that make a good bike race were combined in one day as the wind played a key role in the finale after the climbs and the Penang bridge in a very spectacular environment.

Loh described it as “the most valuable stage I’ve experienced in ten years of taking part in Le Tour de Langkawi. Riding into Penang was incredibly spectacular, so was the run into the finish when we came down to the coast from the last hill. It was a challenging route. I was thrilled to be part of the breakaway until very close to the finish.”

Teluk Bahang indirectly took its toll on the riders as gaps were formed in the last two kilometres of racing. Wang was a victim of it, although he only lost eleven seconds and remained in the top three overall.

“Maybe I’ve climbed better than Guardini,” Palini added to explain how he managed to beat his compatriot. “He struggled a bit more in the hill, and he might have reached the finish a bit tired. My team also worked really well. Ivan Santaromita and Paco Mancebo are our GC riders, so they had to stay at the front today anyway even if I wasn’t going to win the sprint.”

Guardini confirmed Palini’s words. “I said this morning again that it’s never simple to win,” he commented. “Palini showed today that he’s a more complete rider than me. He passed the hill better than me. I rode flat out to stay with the main peloton, and it took out of me the energy I needed for winning the bunch sprint.”

Reduced to five riders, the Astana team is aware that it’ll be difficult to make Guardini a winner every day, even though he’s potentially the fastest sprinter. A new threat came with South Africa’s Reinardt Janse van Rensburg finishing third in Penang. “My team did a really good job to keep me in front,” the Dimension Data sprinter told Cyclingnews. “We tried to break it at the bottom of the climb, but the climb wasn’t hard enough to split the bunch, so it was still a big bunch coming in. The other two guys were just faster than me in the finish. I came in the last curve in position 3, which was really the best position but I didn’t have the kick to pass them. My team is working really well here. I hope to reward them with a win before the end of Le Tour de Langkawi.”

Held in the afternoon after Friday’s Muslim prayer, stage 3 of Le Tour de Langkawi will be a short and flattish one on a distance of 107.2km from Kulim to Kuala Kangsar on the eve of the queen stage to the Cameron Highlands.

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