Joris Delbove wins pivotal Tour de Langkawi stage 5, claims lead

Joris Delbove (Total Energies) shot away from his rivals on stage 5 of the Petronas Le Tour de Langkawi, claiming not just the stage victory but also vaulting into the overall lead on the race's lone summit finish at the top of Fraser's Hill.

Anders Halland Johannessen claimed second, leading the chase group that came over the line two seconds back, while Yannis Voisard (Tudor Pro Cycling) came third on top of the Cat. 1 climb, located in the Malaysian jungle.

Johannessen also moved into second spot overall, six seconds behind Delbove, while Adrien Maire (Unibet Tietama Rockets), fifth on the stage, moved into third at ten seconds back.

"It was instinct… with three kilometres to go I saw the opportunity to go by myself," explained Delbove who claimed the clear-cut win, appearing alone between the trees as the race rounded the final corner at just over 150m to go. A furious chase was in progress behind, but with not enough time to close the gap.

The long winding climb in the heat and humidity of inland Peninsular Malaysia may have totally reshuffled the GC order but the gaps still are relatively tight, particularly given there are bonus seconds at play in the intermediate sprints and on the line throughout the coming three stages.

Delbove said he expected that he would have to be on his toes not just in the last stage, but also the coming two days given the opportunities available for his rivals to chip away at his narrow lead.

"I first have to secure the advantage that I have now, six seconds is not much," the race leader said.

"The last stage will be complicated. Why not try to win the last stage as well? But first we have to secure the lead."

How it unfolded

The 123.1km hilly trek on Thursday from Temerloh to Fraser's Hill was always going to be a pivotal day for the overall standings of the 2.Pro event, which is likely to end with a bunch sprint in every other stage.

At the start of the day it was stage 1,3 and 4 winner, Matteo Malucelli in the top spot of the overall rankings though his XDS-Astana team were preparing for a changing of the guard, keeping Aaron Gate, the rider sitting in third place behind sprinter Eriend Blikra (UNO-X Mobility) well-placed throughout the day and also having Nicolas Vinokurov up their sleeve as an alternate option. Still, the gaps remained small among the top half of the field given the predominance of sprint stages thus far, with the top 66 riders within 36 seconds of the lead spot.

It was relatively flat as the race set off from Temerloh and headed inland with the focus in the early part of the day being the intermediate sprints at 15.3km, 34.7km and 54.8km. The time bonuses that come with them were the key pull for the overall contenders – with the first rider over each intermediate sprint taking a three-second bonus.

However, an early break nullified that issue with seven riders initially in the lead: Nicolas Mercerou (TotalEnergies), Zeb Kyffin (Unibet Rockets), Vojtech Kminek (Burgos BH), Aiman Rosli (Terengganu TSG), Yauheni Sobal (Chengdu), Édouard Bonnefoix (7Eleven Cliqq Roadbike) and Yusri Shaari (Malaysia). Kyffin swept up top points in the first intermediate sprint, Malaysian champion Rosli the second and Kyffin the third.

At 83.6km into the race, or with 39.5km to go, the first of the climbing challenges arrived. This was a small one, but the category 3 ascent still had KOM points on offer – 3,2 and 1 for the top three riders. The stage started with two riders equal in the standings, Patrick Eddy (Picnic PostNL) and Jambaljamts Sainbayar (Burgos-Burpellet-BH) both on 15 point. But again it was a break that grabbed the points, with Rosli sweeping up the top spot in Raub.

The group out front was dropping riders and around the 100km mark, the climbing really kicked into full gear as the peloton worked toward the summit finish at 123.1 km that would shape the overall classification. There was plenty of work being done at the front of the field to break it apart and shed riders, with Equipo Kern Pharma prominent among those driving the pace as the race entered its final ten kilometres. It was an effort that yielded dividends, Gate among the riders who were dropped, leaving Nicolas Vinokurov as the remaining GC card for XDS-Astana.

The attacks continued to be laid down and hauled back in, with a group of around 20 riders still together as the race was approaching its finale. That was when Delbove made his move, launching with such ferocity within three kilometres to go that despite the furious chase behind, the victory remained his.

Vinokurov's fifth place put him in the lead of the Best Asia Rider category and while his XDS-Astana teammate Matteo Malucelli handed over the leader's jersey he held onto top spot in the points ranking. Patrick Eddy (Picnic PostNL) also retained the mountain's classification lead.

While Eddy originally came to win sprints, the climbers jersey on his back is now looking like an alternative well worth pursuing. This is particularly true given his team are now down to three riders, including him, meaning Eddy is all but lacking a lead-out train to help him in any upcoming bunch sprints.

The race continues on Friday with a flat 123.5km stage 6 from Shah Alam to Port Dickson, moving the event back over to the west coast.