Tour de Langkawi: Stage 5 sprint victory for Ryan Gibbons

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A day after proving his climbing legs on the queen stage up Cameron Highlands, Ryan Gibbons was in his element on the flat fifth stage of le Tour de Langkawi where the race leader claimed victory in the bunch sprint.

Three times a top three finisher so far at the race, the Dimension Data rider was too fast for Jacob Mareczko (Wilier-Trestina) while Marco Benfatto (Androni) was third. Benfatto, however, would be relegated for "irregular sprinting,” with Travis McCabe (UnitedHealthcare) instead rounding out the podium on the official results.

"From the start, getting second on stage 1 was an achievement but today was a sense of relief more than anything and I’m just so happy to get the win for the team but also for myself. The first of my career so a very good day today," Gibbons said after the stage.

"I still think that if I am having a good day, I can sprint on a flat road but today with a little bit of a drag and the road surface being brick, I think it suited me a little more. My team was incredible, they supported me and put me in perfect position, and it would have been hard not to win with the job they did."

Stage 3 winner Mareczko was the closest challenger to Gibbons but explained to Cyclingnews that he had too much to do in the finale. "Four kilometres to go, some guy fell down and I with my team lost position because of this. In the final metres I was in third position behind the winner and I couldn't get in front of him," said Mareczko.

Victory tightens Gibbons' grip on the yellow jersey with the overall victory now all but assured. The 22-year-old neo-pro also now leads the sprint classification but his goals remain more wins and the yellow jersey. "Obviously the focus is the yellow jersey and stage wins. If the teal jersey comes with it, then it will be great but it is not a focus and we won't be targeting it," he said of the other classification he leads.

Having joined Scott Sunderland, McCabe and Mareczko as a sprint stage winner in 2017, the challenge for Gibbons come stage 6 is to become the first multiple winner in this year's race

How it unfolded

With several riders battling illness at the race, Nicolas Marini was the first casualty of stage 5 as he abandoned just 11km into the stage. The high pace in the peloton, as the break was trying to get established, was too much for the Nippo-Vini Fantini rider.

After numerous attempts to get the break going, at the 44km mark it was Fausto Masnada from Androni who initiated a one-man breakaway. As Masnada was making his move, the peloton briefly split with Gibbons caught in the second group. The Italian was given a three-minute lead from the peloton, which had come back together, and the freedom to enjoy his day in the front of the bunch.

While Masnada claimed the maximum points on offer at the first two intermediate sprints, Gibbons increased his overall lead by claiming bonus seconds at the first sprint. Gibbons also moved into the sprint classification lead due to his aggressive riding.

After the third intermediate sprint point, Masnada decided to call it a day, having also secured the combativity prize for the stage. With 20km to go, the sprint teams started to get their riders into position in anticipation of the finale.

Coming into the final kilometre after the fast run in, it was the usual sprint suspects of the race thus far making their presence known. The UnitedHealthcare and Androni sprint trains clashed, but once into the final few hundred metres, it was Gibbons hitting out and proving to have the best kick on the day.
  

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