Tour De Langkawi: Matteo Malucelli makes it three with final stage win as Max Poole claims overall race win

Matteo Malucelli (JCL Team Ukyo) won the final stage of the eight-day Tour de Langkawi on Sunday while Max Poole (dsm-firmenich PostNL) claimed overall victory. 

The finale of the 2.Pro race, which played out over 147.5 km on the Bintulu loop which started and finished at Laser Kenyalang, culminated in a sprint finish where Malucelli made an impressive late surge to move ahead of a well-orchestrated sprint train by Tudor Pro Cycling intended to deliver Arvid de Kleijn to victory.

It wasn't to be for the Dutch sprinter, who took the sprint win on stages 4 and 5 earlier in the race.

Max Poole (dsm-firmenich PostNL) moved into the overall race lead when he captured his first professional victory on stage 3, winning the crucial mountainous stage of the tour to the Cameron Highlands, and held it until the race's final stage.

“I am really happy today," Poole said following the race. "Getting my first professional win earlier this week and now also taking home the GC win is a really nice moment for me and the team. I am proud of how the boys rode this week, so this is well-deserved for us, I think.”

Poole finished the race 13 seconds ahead of Thomas Pesenti in the general classification, while Malucelli's final stage win was enough to take the points jersey from De Kleijn with a narrow 2-point lead.

Results powered by FirstCycling