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| Travis McCabe takes the final stage at Putrajaya. |
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| Team Dimension Data celebrates at the finish |
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| Top 3 for today's stage |
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| Loh Sea Keong takes the award for the most combative rider in Stage 8 |
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| Best Malaysia Category |
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| Best Overall team is IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness |
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| Best Asian Team goes to Vino Astana Motors |
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| Asian Classification - top 3 - won by Hideto Nakane |
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| KOM Classification - top 3 - won by John Ebsen |
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| Points Classification- top 3 - won by Ryan Gibbons |
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| Overall Classification - top 3 - won by Ryan Gibbons |
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| Here's the 22nd edition of LTdL 2017 jersey winners. |
PUTRAJAYA, 1 March 2017 : WorldTour squad Dimension Data became the first
team to win Le Tour de Langkawi on three consecutive editions with three
different African riders as neo pro Ryan Gibbons, 22, followed the path of
Algeria’s Youcef Reguigui and his compatriot Reinardt Janse van Rensburg from
South Africa.
He finished fourth of the conclusive stage in Putrajaya won
by Travis McCabe who made it two for Unitedhealthcare after he took stage 2 and
regained the points competition as well, throughout the intermediate sprints as
he won all three of them.
“We wanted to race hard again today”, McCabe declared.
“Typically when the race is hard and there are a few climbs, we can get rid of
some heavy sprinters. The sprint came down to the last corner and I had Greg
Henderson putting me in perfect position and I jumped at about 300 metres to
go. Coming from doing the same job in the WorldTour, he makes my life so much
easier! Pretty much all I have to do is to put my hands up. All the guys
allowed me to get this win. We had a double goal as we really wanted [Daniel]
Jaramillo to take the time bonuses to jump on the podium. He’s got a good kick.
So I was not looking at the sprint jersey, I was more looking at the stage
win.”
“This was my first time here. I’ll remember the beautiful
landscapes of Malaysia. The people were fantastic. That was awesome to see so
many people out there cheering us on. I couldn’t ask for a better race to start
off the season. I’m really happy that I came and we’ll be back next year.”
“Before coming to Malaysia, I didn’t think I’d be sitting
here with the yellow jersey at the end”, said Gibbons who learned “jesi kuning”
in bahasa Malaysia during his six days in the lead of LTdL. “The team had a lot
of faith in me but to have responsibility to lead in the second race of my
first year as a pro, but I couldn’t have imagined the dream coming true this
week. It’s been stressful, even having the yellow jersey, being on good form
and believing in myself.”
“On the second climb, IsoWhey attacked. But I had Jacques
[Janse van Rensburg], our road captain, with me the whole time. He told me to
relax and not too worry although I could have gone harder for the intermediate
sprints. A group of sixteen riders got fifteen seconds ahead of us in the main
climb but we caught them very quickly. After that I knew we should have the
jersey for good but this is cycling, anything can happen, a crash or a
mechanical. Even going into the last sprint, I touched wheel with my team-mates
in a corner.”
“It was a goal to win the last stage as well. I’m
disappointed not to have made it but in the last curve I was maybe where I
shouldn’t. I was following Pippo [Pozzato] and [Alberto] Cecchin. When I came
out, it was way too late. There were five riders up the road. I was able to
catch two of them but I was glad to stay up and win yellow and teal.”
Gibbons was the second South African to win the points
competition after his mentor Robert Hunter fifteen years ago. “He was the first
South African to win a stage in all three Grand Tours”, he continued.
“He’s definitely a role model. I see myself as a very similar
rider to him. He was a sprinter but also someone who could go well in small
climbs and do all right in time trial. He’s the one who put cycling on the map
in South Africa. I do look up to him. He inspired many South Africans.”
“It’s really special to follow his footsteps, also here in
Malaysia. If I do half of what he achieved, it would be a successful career for
me. He’s been talking to me every day during Le Tour de Langkawi. He has a lot
of faith in me as well. Since 2004, he’s believed that I can do a lot. He’s
been motivating me this week, which is great. From day 3, he believed I could
win the Tour. His support really helped.”
“I’m really ambitious and I’m very
hungry”, Gibbons concluded. “I’d be a liar if I’d say I don’t want to win more.
It’s been a perfect start. I have to keep on learning. I don’t want to set
myself goals that I can’t achieve. Hopefully this is just the beginning. It was
my first time in this position. “
“I’ve learned that with winning come the
press, the media, the fans… I had never experienced a team work like that. I
also learned a lot about sprinting. I’ve only won a stage, I’ve been second,
third, fourth and fifth. I don’t look at those as seven losses. I look at them
as seven learning experiences. I know what not to do now. I’m grateful for the
lesson I can take from my Malaysian experience. It was my first time here. I’ve
not enjoyed just the winning but the support from the people, the different
cultures, the different foods, the weather that is similar to some parts of
South Africa on the coast so I can handle it. It’s been so welcoming, I’d like
to come back.”
