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