Mareczko wins stage 6 of Le Tour de Langkawi

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The mercilessness of bike racing was brought to the attention of all at the Tour de Langkawi in an action-packed ending to stage 6 on Monday that saw Colombian Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) lose his overall lead to South African Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (Dimension Data) due to a mechanical.

The 147.6km stage from Putrajaya to Rembau after a lightning fast decent to the finish was won by Italian Jakub Mareczko (Southeast-Venezuela) ahead of Juraj Sagan (Tinkoff) and Dylan Page (Team Roth).

“There were more king of the mountains primes than usual [four]. It was difficult to hold my place but my teammates kept me in the main group,” Mareczko said afterwards. “In the last few corners to the finish, I stayed in the first three so I was in the right position for sprinting.”

In Mareczko’s wake, however, came an unexpected change of the overall leader, with Janse van Rensburg (Dimension Data) moving from second overall, 23 seconds down, to first place after Lopez lost 35 seconds after breaking a wheel with six kilometres to go. Lopez’s problems were compounded when he proceeded to ride off course as he tried to re-join the race after receiving a replacement wheel.

For Tuesday’s 202.3km seventh stage from Seremban to Parit Sulong, Janse van Rensburg leads Daniel Jaramillo (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) by 11 seconds and Lopez by 12.

Yet although Jans van Rensburg now wears the leader’s yellow jersey, he was by no means an elated figure after Monday’s finish.

“I am really sorry for Lopez to lose the jersey in such a way,” said Janse van Rensburg who until then was committed to using his sprinting strength to scrap for time bonuses in the various sprints.

“It is not the nicest way to take the jersey. I was looking forward to a bit more of a battle for the jersey, but I guess it’s cycling.”

He also rued the lost stage winning opportunity after stopping with 500m to go when riders ran into him from behind on a U-turn.

Janse van Rensburg eventually crossed the line in 64th place, 39 seconds down – and one position behind Lopez. But because his mishap occurred inside the last three kilometres of the stage he was awarded the same time as the bunch, in accordance to UCI race laws.

“I missed my chance to go for the victory today,” Janse van Rensburg said. “Some guys went straight into me in the corner, they didn’t make the corner. I didn’t know if the guys didn’t see the corner or what, but they just kept on going straight instead of turning.

“My chain was off after that so I had to stop to put it back on. It is kind of bittersweet today, but yeah, I take it as it comes.

“The race changes now completely for us. We are going to have to defend. The bunch is really getting aggressive now, so I think it’s going to be quite a big fight tomorrow, and there is quite a climb early on. So we are going to have to be top of our game coming out.”

Another rider left to rue 'Lady Luck' was Australian sprinter Brenton Jones (Drapac) who was perfectly placed for his best shot at the stage win after exiting the final right hand bend inside the last 200 metres. But as he exited the turn he pulled his foot from the pedal and finished seventh. His face smacked of bitter frustration afterwards.

One who cut his losses early was Italian Andrea Guardini (Astana) who won his 20th stage of his career in the race on Sunday – and second this year – but felt too drained to contend on Monday.

“I was at full gas with 15 kilometres to go so I decided to leave this stage for a rest and try to win another – tomorrow or the last stage,” said Guardini, who finished 109th, almost eight minutes down on Mareczko.

How it unfolded

On a course highlighted with four King of the Mountain primes and relatively sinuous roads, the invitation for attacks was present. And it was accepted with the first break escaping the clutches of the peloton at 10km and quickly gaining a lead of one minute.

Songenzo Jim (Dimension Data) and Thomas Cully (Drapac), Michael Gogl (Tinkoff), James Oran (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling), Mirco Maestri (Bardiani-CSF), Hyo Suk Gong (KSPO), Malaysian Amirul Mazuki (Terengganu Cycling) and Giuseppe Fonzi (Southeast-Venezuela) were all aboard, but they never milked more than 2 minutes 20 seconds on the peloton as they forged ahead to fight out the intermediate sprints and KOM primes.

By 68km and after the second KOM, as the heat and humidity took their toll, only Maestri and Gong were in front, and they were still leading over the third KOM at 83.1km.

Four riders – Gogl again, Moreno Amezqueta (Southeast-Venezuela), Adrien Niyonshuti (Dimension Data), and Tanner Putt (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) – bridged across but they were swept up as the final climb of the day loomed.

George Harper (ONE Pro Cycling) led the race over the top, but he was pegged back and caught with six kilometres remaining. The day’s drama was only about to begin.
 

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