Ivan Sosa emerged from the rain and fog to win atop Genting Highlands and take control of the overall classification at the Tour de Langkawi.
The Colombian Movistar rider distanced Hugh Carthy (EF Education-EasyPost) in the final kilometre of the climb to win alone. Carthy finished 19 seconds down, with Einer Rubio (Movistar) taking third ahead of Esteban Chaves (EF Education-EasyPost) at almost two minutes.
“Our tactic for today was to remain very attentive and to find the right moment to attack, and that right moment was with one kilometre left to go,” said Sosa in a post race media conference.
Thanks to his win, Sosa is the race leader, 23 seconds ahead of Carthy.
Carthy and Sosa got away from a select group with 12km to climb. They soon dropped Andrey Zeits (Astana Qazaqstan) and powered ahead on the Gohtong Jaya climb and then the steeper climb to Genting Highlands.
Australia’s Carter Bettles (ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast) was the last rider from the break to be swept up. Bennett tried to accelerate the chase with four kilometres to go then faded as other riders surged away and finished tenth.
The 124km stage was relatively short but was crucial to the battle for overall honours with two early category 2 climbs mid-way through the stage followed by the imposing dual challenge of the HC climbs of Gohtong Jaya and the Genting Highlands finish in quick succession. Historically, the Genting Highlands stage has been won by the overall winner at the race 12 out of the 20 times, according to ProCyclingStats.
There are five stage of the eight-day tour remaining but only one looks to provide a likely opportunity to be able to pull back time on the general category, stage 7 on Langkawi which spirals in to finish on the ascent of Gunung Raya.
How it unfolded
The first two stages of the Malaysian ProTour race were for the sprinters, with the climbers biding their time as they made their way through the heat and early monsoonal rains.
That changed at the Putrajaya start line – looked over by the graceful Putra Mosque constructed with rose-tinted granite and the grandeur of the Perdana Putra – as the Tour de Langkawi was now riding toward climbing territory.
When the riders rolled out it would take some time before they got to test their climbing legs as it was a relatively flat start as the race rolled toward Kuala Lumpur, with the first of the climbs at 54.7km.
The break of the day was four strong with Eduard Michael Grosu (Drone Hopper), Nur Aiman Zariff (Terengganu Polygon Cycling Team), and the ARA Pro Racing duo of Kane Richards and Carter Bettles, whose teammate Craig Wiggins took victory on stage 2.
The quartet had a well established gap by the time they hit the pair of category two climbs at 54.7km and 67.2km, a repeat of the Tekali and Look Out Point combination that came near the end of stage 1.
As they skirted past the edge of Kuala Lumpur and continued on north to the Genting Highlands and through the final intermediate sprint at 86.6km, the gap had stretched out to more than seven minutes. However the Gohtong Jaya climb loomed, 13.7km at a gradient of 5.9%, and a KOM point around 13km before the finish line.
At the 90km mark the gap had started to drop and soon the ARA Pro Racing duo set out the front alone, with Richards doing what he could to help Bettles and then leaving him to go on his way alone.
With just under 20km to go Diego Andreas Camargo (EF Education EasyPost) struck out from the increasingly stretched out peloton, as sprinters fell out the back. But he couldn’t reach Bettles, who still had a lead of 4:30 on the peloton at the 16km mark.
Tipping water over his head to try and ease the heat on the climb the Australian was working hard to keep the pace up near the top of Gohtong Jaya but behind in the peloton the charge was on.
It was then Carthy, Sosa and Zeits that surged away, reducing the gap to three minutes at the top of the penultimate climb and then working together on the short downhill section to reduce it even further.
There was suddenly no longer any need to reach for a water bottle to cool the riders, as the early monsoon rain made its presence felt again as riders braced for the final eight kilometres of racing, where the climb to Genting Highlands delivered an average gradient of 10% and sections of 15%, Bettles couldn't keep the gap on these slopes and with the calibre of riders chasing so was soon in sight for the trio and then was quickly caught and left behind.
Zeits too was dropped with five kilometres to go, leaving Carthy and Sosa out the front but obscured by the mist and rain. Attacks launched from the peloton but they were too little and too late.
Sosa and Carthy worked their way up the scenic winding hairpins on the final run up to the Genting Highlands, but there was little to be seen at the mist covered top, which in the hour before had delivered a clear view of the winding road.
Sosa then leapt away in the final kilometre, taking the last bend and kick-up at 200m to go with a clear gap and time to celebrate his stage victory and moved into the jersey of the race leader that will see him in yellow for Friday’s flat 137.9km stage to Meru Raya.
There are two riders, however, who will not be taking to the start line on stage four, with both Yousif Mirza (United Arab Emirates) and Alessandro Bisolti (Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli) disqualified, fined and losing 50 points from UCI rankings for holding on to their own team vehicle. That means UAE Team Emirates are now two riders down, with an unwell Rui Costa not finishing stage 1.
