Apr 6, 2015

REGUIGUI TAKES CHARGE IN STYLE





Youcef Reguigui wins at Frasers Hill, while Team Sky's Sebastian Henao takes 2nd and Valerio Agnoli of Astana in 3rd
The leaders after stage 7

FRASERS HILL, Saturday 14th March 2015 - MTN-Qhubeka's Youcef Reguigui sprinted to the line to take the biggest win of his career when he won the queen stage of the 20th edition of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL), a gruelling 180.8km stage from Shah Alam to Frasers Hill today.
The victory also gave the 25-year old Reguigui the overall lead which he is likely to keep in the final stage tomorrow and emerge the third African rider to win LTdL's covered overall title after South Africans Ryan Cox in 2005 and David George in 2006.
Reguigui formed part of an 11-man breakaway that started with 25km to go and went all the way to the finish line where the Algerian outsprinted Colombia's Sebastian Henao of Team Sky to the finish. Astana's Valerio Agnoli took third place.
"I am very happy with this win, especially since I had a son one month ago, so I dedicate this win to him," said Reguigui.
"This was a tough stage, especially when you do the climb after 180 kilometres. With 25km to go, I was lucky to be in front with that group and I had two teammates - Natnael Berhane and Jacques Janse van Rensburg with me, so I knew we had a good chance," said Reguigui.
"We were looking to Berhane, because he is the climber. But with eight km to go I saw that he didn't have the legs for this, so I decided to go for it myself. I am normally a sprinter, but I can climb a little bit and today I was feeling good, so I am very proud to have delivered this win.
"I hope this form will put me on the right track to the Tour de France. Because we are the first African team to ride in the Tour de France this year."
Orica GreenEdge's Caleb Ewan, who led the general classification before today, lost the overall lead but retained the blue jersey for the points classification.
"I knew it was going to be tough to keep the yellow jersey today, but I gave it my best shot and in the end I just didn't have the legs for this. But overall, it has already been a good tour for me. My first pro race outside of Australia and I have two stage wins. Tomorrow we will maybe try for another win," said Ewan, 21.
The red jersey for the mountains classification leader was a done deal today with United Healthcare's Kiel Reijnen holding on to a comfortable 19 points lead ahead of Reguigui, which will now be insurmountable as there will only be one category 4 climb remaining in the final stage.
Aisan Racing Team's Tomohiro Hayakawa swept the Asian riders classification lead away from Giant-Champion System's Zhang Wen Long after he finished 16th and he now holds a 1:03s lead over second placed Liu Jianpeng of Hengxiang Cycling Team, which is unlikely to be affected.
LTdL's 20th edition will end tomorrow with a 96.6km Stage 8 that starts in Kuala Kubu Bharu before entering a procession of six laps in a circuit around the Kuala Lumpur city centre.

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