Fernando Tercero rallies in the mountains to finish 10th on Langkawi’s queen stage

After overcoming a long virus that has kept Fernando Tercero out of competition for most of the season, the Spanish rider has managed to hold on in the group of favourites in the queen stage of the Tour de Langkawi and to sign the 10th position at the finish line. He is now 5th in the general classification.

The hardest day of the competition did not disappoint. And Team Polti Kometa also showed a great level, with a triple presence in the main group on the last climb of the day. There, the riders Paul Double and Andrea Pietrobon held the pace of Education First, with Fernando Tercero a little further back in the group but who was to be the best of the team in the final part.

But just before the summit, the attacks started. The one who managed to respond to these movements was Fernando Tercero, who held on in the second group and finally caught the trio leader group. The downhill section was used to recover and also to position himself for the sprint, in which Poole (DSM) gave no chance, while Tercero was 10th at the finish. This great result takes him up to 5th place in the general classification.

Fernando Tercero: ‘It was a very calm stage at the beginning, but on the climbs we thought that the pace was going to increase more, and I think that this has hurt us because the rivals have been very strong in the final part. Personally, I tried to surprise but it wasn’t possible. I’m happy with the result and we’ll try to keep on adding good results in the rest of the stages’.

Jesús Hernández, sports director: ‘The work of the team has been very good, and that’s the basis of our good performances. The truth is that we thought that Paul Double was going to be able to keep up with the best, but instead we are really happy that Fernando Tercero was able to be in front. It’s definitely the most positive thing about today, considering where he’s coming from. Another day in the top 10 and we are waiting for some movements tomorrow in the first kilometres’.

This Wednesday is the fourth stage of the Tour de Langkawi, with 131.2 kilometres including a climb of almost 40 kilometres in the initial part, where the strongest teams will try to catch the fast riders; while the final part will be completely flat again in search of a massive finish in the city of Bentong.