5 Oct 2024

Manuel Peñalver stays in the top-5 at the sprints in Langkawi

Le Tour de Langkawi (2.PRO)

Stage 7: Miri - Bintulu (199'3km)

Team Polti Kometa has 5 top-5 and 2 top-10 in the seven stages completed of the Tour de Langkawi. On today’s stage, the longest of the competition, Manuel Peñalver took 5th place while Fernando Tercero remains 4th in the overall standings.

Almost 200 kilometres of route, in which the torrential rain was the protagonist during the stage but respected at the end. A seventh day in which the peloton rode at a high speed throughout the day, without allowing dangerous breakaways and controlling both the objectives of the leaders and the expected sprint finish.

In the final part, Manuel Peñalver looked for the wheels of the fastest riders. Although he started from the back, without finding the best position, he was able to come back to finish 5th at the finish line, in the victory of Malucelli (Ukyo). For the overall classification, Fernando Tercero maintains his 4th position at the same time as the third classified rider.

Manuel Peñalver: “Today I can’t say I’m happy because I had the legs for more, to fight for the victory. The “door” didn’t open for me and I had to open it… and it was too late. I’m angry because yesterday we lost the podium because of the breakaway and today because I got stuck, but we still have a chance and I hope it’s the right one and we can raise our arms. I’ll give my all to give the victory to my team-mates and the team”.

Jesús Hernández, sports director: ‘The stage was very controlled today by the teams of the sprinters, who didn’t give any gap to the breakaways and wanted to arrive without surprises to a mass finish. Manuel had to see how the sprint closed him today and prevented him from launching the finish in a better position, but he is still among the best and we still have a chance’.

This Sunday the Tour de Langkawi concludes with the 8th stage in Bintulu. A total of 147 kilometres including two laps of the final circuit. It should not cause any changes in the final general classification and will end the race with another sprint finish.