Craig Wiggins wins Tour de Langkawi stage 2 after Molano relegation

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Craig Wiggins (ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast) was retroactively awarded victory on stage 2 of the Petronas Tour de Langkawi in Raub as the sprinters dominated for a second day, after initial winner Juan Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates) was relegated for irregular sprinting.

The Colombian had fought his way out of the tightly-packed group of sprinters in the final 300 metres and found a way to the line along the barriers during a hectic finish.

Molano beat Australia’s Craig Wiggins (ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast) and stage 1 winner Gleb Syritsa (Astana Qazaqstan) to the line, with Syritsa keeping the race leader’s yellow jersey.

However, hours after the stage had finished, race organisers announced that Molano's win – what would've been his third of the season – would be taken away after he was seen pushing another rider in the battle for position deep inside the final kilometre. He was relegated to 109th and last in the peloton for the stage.

The 178.9km stage from Kuala Klawang to Raub shifted the racing further inland from Kuala Lumpur, taking in two third-category climbs on an undulating stage which was the longest of the race. 

Ratchanon Yaowarat (Thailand Continental Cycling Team) was the last survivor of the break of the stage but was swept up with 10km to go to Raub, historically a gold mining settlement. That opened up a second chance for Molano, who fell behind the leading bunch on the opening stage sprint in Kuala Lumpur but was far better positioned on the flatter stage 2.

“Yesterday was not a good feeling, but OK today – better. I am happy, I am happy for the team,” said Molano. 

The Colombian said UAE Team Emirates would now be turning its attention to working for George Bennett on stage 3, which finishes with the pivotal Genting Highlands climb, though when asked if after that he would be chasing another victory the answer was an emphatic “of course”.

Thursday’s third stage is short at 123.7km but climbs up to 1,640 metres for a finish atop Genting Highlands. The mountain finish is expected to be decisive in deciding the overall classification.

How it unfolded

Just as in stage 1, it wasn’t long into stage 2 until a small climb was thrown in, with the racing heading almost straight into the steady ascent to Petaseh which peaked at 8.2km into the racing.The break too went early and was again dominated by teams from the region, including a few familiar names from stage 1.

This time in the move were Jambaljamts Sainbayar and Nur Aiman Zariff (Terengganu Polygon), Rwandan champion Didier Munyaneza (Pro Touch), Andy Royan (MULA), Ratchanon Yaowarat (Thailand Continental Team), Nik Zulkifli (Malaysia) and Marco Lumanog (Philippines). 

Sainbayar who took the lead in the competition for the climbers and best Asian riders jerseys on stage 1, sat up after the first KOM points had been decided, with the jersey holder claiming second behind his teammate Zariff.

While the next classified climb was still more than 130km away It was far from a flat straight road ahead with the undulations and twists and turns barely relenting, as the race passed through the verdant green hillsides, rivers that will soon be heaving with monsoonal rain and small towns where the roadside was lined with waving school children and curious adults.

The break had quickly stretched out the gap to around two minutes, but the efforts of Alpecin-Deceuninck helped keep it in check. This flatter stage looked like it could be one for their sprinter Jakub Mareczko, who has won three stages of the race over the 2016 and 2017 editions.

Nur Atman Zariff swept up the top points on category 3 Bukit Damar climb at 122.8km and then the break began to fall apart, with Yaowarat attacking. 

The riders were slowly swallowed up by the peloton as they worked their way through a series of undulations which eased around 30km from the line. However Yaowarat refused to give up and while his break companions were reeled in, the Thailand Continental Team rider still had a gap of 2:40 on the rest of the field with 26km to go.

The gap quickly started to fall as Yaowarat tired and the speed rose in the peloton, dropping by more than a minute by 20km to go. 

At 10km to go it was all back together, with Lotto Soudal, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Astana all making their presence felt at the front as they tried to get their sprinters into position.

Each team hit the front at different moments but the wide roads made for a high-speed, uncontrollable sprint. Positioning was vital but so was finishing speed and Molano fought his way up to the front and then accelerated to the line.

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