Tour de Langkawi: Guardini wins again in Kuala Lumpur

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Colombian Miguel Angel Lopez was reminded that he is still some way from shoring up overall victory in the Tour de Langkawi when South African threat Reinardt Janse van Rensburg unleashed his challenge in the sprints of stage 5 on Sunday to chip away at his overall deficit by gaining time bonuses.

Lopez (Astana) is still the overall race leader after the 148.8km fifth stage from Tapah to Kuala Lumpur that saw his Italian teammate Andrea Guardini win in a bunch sprint to secure his 20th career stage win in the eight-stage Malaysian race – and his fourth from the four stage finishes in ‘KL’.

It is a remarkable record for Guardini, who also won stage one, considering his career tally of professional wins is 37.

“It’s a wonderful day because for me … it is a perfect day,” Guardini, 26, said. “Its my fourth finish in six years [in Kuala Lumpur] and I win every year.

"It's fantastic, because when I was at 20km to go I was thinking, ‘Always when I am riding here I can feel a lot of my adrenalin for this finish. I know the sprint really well – what I need to do, when I need to pass and where I need to sprint to win.’ And I did it all perfectly. I started on the right side and then went to the left to cut the roads when I was in the front. I did a really good sprint.”

In humid and hot conditions that soared to 35C degrees-plus, Guardini won the bunch sprint finish that was made certain when another day-long break was caught near the finish. Behind him was Italian Andrea Palini (Skydive Dubai) in second while Janse van Rensburg was third to jag a four second bonus, on top of two seconds he took with his second place in the first of three intermediate sprints at 42km.

That saw Janse van Rensburg take back six seconds on Lopez overall, and with three stages to go and the intermediate and finishing sprints suiting him more than Lopez, the South African is well within reach of the overall win, so long as he can muster the energy to sprint for time.

Going into Monday’s sixth stage of the tour that finishes in Melako on Wednesday, Lopez now leads overall by 23 seconds on Janse van Rensburg, while in third place is Colombian Daniel Jaramillo (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling).

Lopez, like all in the peloton, was exhausted after a day in which the sweltering conditions contrasted those of stage four to Tanah Rata where rain and temperatures dropped on the climb to the finish and he won to take the yellow leader’s jersey off Guardini who had held it since his stage one win.

“It’s been another very fast stage,” Lopez, 22, told media. “I lost a little bit of my advantage in the classification because [Janse] van Rensburg was doing the sprints for time bonus.”

The job ahead

Guardini is certainly aware of the task ahead for Lopez and the Astana team that is one rider down with five, and warns that he will not want to go for all the intermediate sprints to counter Janse van Rensburg’s expected time bonus chase.

He still hopes for another stage win or two, but is prepared to make best of his own chances in the bunch finishes if his team focuses on helping Lopez defend the yellow jersey.

“We know that he is a really fast guy,” Guardini said of the South African who showed on Saturday that he can not only sprint but climb with third place behind Lopez at Tanah Rata. “We saw [he is fast] today … and yesterday also when we did the first [intermediate] sprint [that Guardini won and from Janse van Rensburg] and to beat him I had to go full gas.

“He has a very strong team. They want to take the time bonuses. I think it is best that we ride to keep the [yellow] jersey first and then we ride for the sprints [and stage wins.] It’s better to win the race overall, and if other teams work to the finish line for the sprint, we hope the other sprinters take second and third [ahead of Janse van Rensburg] and I win. We cannot to deliver [Janse] van Rensburg to bonifcations – at least in the finale because we know they will want to take control and take time earlier.”

How it happened

On Sunday, Janse van Rensburg may have gained more time had he not punctured near the second intermediate sprint at 63km, after which a six rider break formed and then dropped to four after the third sprint at 118km, and then to three by the top of the King of the Mountains mark after 126km.

That trio was made up of China’s Zhang Zheng (Hexgiang Cycling), and Malaysians Sea Loh (Malaysia National) and Amirul Mazuki (Terengganu Cycling). By then their lead was reducing quickly as the Tinkoff and Drapac led peloton ramped up its chase after allowing the break a maximum lead of 3 minutes 50 seconds at 77km when it still numbered six.

Even when the leaders were two, Mazuki and Loh, and caught by the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling pair of Dane John Ebson and Briton Richard Handley, their fate was imminent.

And it came in the last three kilometres when the peloton, still led by Tinkoff and Drapac, swamped the leaders to set up Guardini for another extension to his record of wins.

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