Tour de Langkawi: Jones takes stage 2 sprint

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For the second consecutive day, a 19 year old won at Le Tour de Langkawi, with Australia’s Taj Jones of ARA Sunshine Coast taking the sprint ahead of Max Walscheid (NTT Pro Cycling) and Jérémy Lecroq (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept) in Kerteh, while Yevgeniy Fedorov of Vino Astana retained the overall lead.

"I’m pretty stoked," Jones said. "The tactic today was wait, wait, wait and make a late dash towards the end. My team made a good job taking me towards the front. We’ve been working on it for a while. They put me in a perfect position for the last 200 metres."

The stage was shaped by a five-man breakaway that formed after 20km. Mattia Viel (Androni Giocatolli-Sidermec), Alessandro Iacchi (Vini Zabù-KTM), Rylee Field (Bridgelane), Nur Aiman Zariff (Sapura) and Colby Lange (Wildlife Generation) where there, with Malaysia’s Nur Aiman taking all three intermediate sprints. The maximum time gap of 4:50 was reached when the quintet covered 45km in the first hour of racing.

Only the Vino Astana team of race leader Fedorov set the tempo of the peloton with the Thailand Continental team of runner up Thurakit Boonrathanathanakorn helping them with 25km to go. At that point Field attacked to remain the only rider at the front but with NTT Pro Cycling seized the reins 20km before the finish and upping the pace, the Australian was reeled in with three kilometres to go.

"I underestimated the headwind at the end, but hats off to the boys who worked hard for me," a disappointed Walscheid commented whereas Lecroq looked happier.

"It’s a good result for me, especially because I endured a stomach bug during the race," the Frenchman said.

"It’s not a win but it shows that I’ve worked well during the winter. There are so many riders here who take part in the sprint that it was necessary to be placed well before the last two curves in the last 500 metres. I was fourth after the last bend. I miss the win by not much but it’s still a satisfaction because the first two riders are pure sprinters and I’m not. I’m also here to help my leaders, [including GC favourite Pierre Rolland] in the hard stages."

It’s difficult to know if Jones is a pure sprinter or just produced a superb finish.

"He hasn’t won a domestic race yet," noted ARA Sunshine Coast sport director Ben Kersten.

“The team has been looking after me very well to bring me to this level”, Jones explained, who hails from Australia's Sunshine Coast where the team is based.

"I’d like to become a Classics rider but this is my first year racing overseas. Winning a stage at Le Tour de Langkawi, I didn’t know that I was following the footstep of riders of such a calibre as my compatriots Stuart O’Grady, Michael Matthews and Caleb Ewan who have won bunch sprints here before. I only started riding my bike three years ago. It’s amazing."

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