Manuel Peñalver back on the podium at the Tour de Langkawi
Third place in the sprint for Manuel Peñalver in a very fast stage that did not manage to neutralise the breakaway until the last kilometre. Thanks to his work and positioning in the final part of the stage, Tercero climbs to fourth place overall.
Another day of protagonism for Team Polti Kometa in the Tour de Langkawi. The day started off with a long climb in which the riders watched for any movement of important men in the general classification, which in the end did not happen. Thus, the team focused on protecting Manuel Peñalver in search of the stage win.
The favourable terrain and the high speed of the leading group complicated the reduction of the breakaway’s advantage, which seemed to reach the final part with options to fight for the victory. But practically in the last kilometre, the breakaway was neutralised and a sprint was launched in which Manuel Peñalver again demonstrated his good form to be third at the finish line. Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor) took the win.
Aware that the general classification will be disputed by the postometer, Fernando Tercero kept his concentration in the final part to avoid any surprise and even improve a place, to be now fourth, 11 seconds behind the leader Poole (DSM).
Manuel Peñalver: ‘The stage has been chaotic from the start, there has been a lot of war until the breakaway was made and then it was hard for us to neutralise the breakaway. The team-mates worked well to reduce the gap. I felt good in the sprint, I have confidence and legs so we’ll keep working to raise our arms’.
Jesús Hernández, sports director: ‘The objective was again to win the stage with Peñalver. Once we saw that none of our opponents were in the breakaway that could endanger Fernando Tercero’s overall, we focused on supporting him. We are happy again with his result, it gives us the security to compete in the race and tomorrow he will have another chance. It gives us a lot of visibility and rewards the good work of the team’.
The fifth stage of the Tour de Langkawi will take place this Thursday, with 167 kilometres between the capital city Kuala Lumpur and Melaka. In the first part of the stage, three climbs may encourage the brave riders to avoid another sprint finish with an almost completely flat second part.
