GUARDINI MAKES IT 18 STAGE WINS AS REGUIGUI CONQUERS 20TH EDITION OF LE TOUR DE LANGKAWI

Andrea makes his 18th win at Kuala Lumpur

Stage 8 winners, Andrea Guardini (1st), Caleb Ewan (2nd) and Micheal Kolar (3rd)

Best Asian and Overall Team Classification goes to Pegasus Cycling Team from Indonesia 

The Jersey winners of LTdL 2015 (L-R) Caleb Ewan (OGE) in Blue 'Sprint' Jersey,  Youcef Reguigui (MTN)  in Yellow 'Overall Classification' Jersey, Kiel Reijnen (UHC) in Red 'KOM' Jersey, Tomihiro Hayakawa (AIS) in White 'Best Asian' Jersey.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sunday 15th March 2015 - Astana's Andrea Guardini added another victory to his collection after ending the 20th edition of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) the same way he started it, with a win in a bunch sprint ahead of Orica GreenEdge's Caleb Ewan n the final stage from Kuala Kubu Bharu to Kuala Lumpur today.

It was Guardini's 18th ever LTdL stage win, coming on a day when MTN-Qhubeka's Youcef Reguigui confirmed his first ever overal victory as a professional as he emerged with the yellow jersey he won on the decisive Stage 7 yesterday.  

When he tried hard to stop Ewan and third placed Michael Kolar of Tinkoff-Saxo in the final sprint, Guardini, who lost three teammates to food poisoning a day earlier had to sprint early with 200 metres to go and completed the stage in a time of 2:00.27s.

The final stage saw Reguigui crowned as the overall winner of LTdL 2015 after the Algerian sprinter chose not to take too many risks in challenging Guardini and Ewan as he did in the earlier stages and finish 10th on the day.

Reguigui clocked a total time of 28 hours 12 minutes and 04 seconds to emerge the overall winner over the eight stages contested this time around. He finished 9 seconds ahead of Astana's Valerio Agnoli and 10 seconds ahead of third placed Sebastian Henao.

The red jersey for the mountains classification remained in the hands of United Healthcare's Kiel Reijnen, who took charge of the lead from the first stage in Langkawi and brought it to the finish to be crowned the king of the mountains of this edition.

Orica GreenEdge's Caleb Ewan, wins the blue jersey for the points classification. Ewan and the team initially came to LTdL targeting only a stage win but their performance exceeded their own expectations, bagging two stage wins, a few days in the yellow jersey and also winning  the overall points classification.

The Asian riders classification was won by Japan's Tomihiro Hayakawa of Aisan Racing Team.

The surprise of this edition was the rise of Indonesia's Pegasus Cycling Team, who bagged both the Asian and overall teams classification title.

Guardini thanked his two remaining teammates - Agnoli and Maxat Ayazbayev - for the effort they put in for him to bag his fourth win of this edition.

"It was tough by this was a race that I wanted to win and I also wanted to help Agnoli get second place in the general classification and we achieved both," said Guardini.

"I knew what to expect in this final stage. It is a win that is special and I hope this will give a good year for my career." Guardini, as he did in the opening stage in Langkawi, repeated his win in the final stage in his debut year with Farnese-Vini in 2011.

Asked if he would return next year, Guardini who's contract with Astana expires at the end of the year, hoped he could return to the race, but wasn't sure of the team he would represent next.

Reguigui, for whom this is the biggest ever win in his professional career, admitted he had just started his pre-season training before coming to Malaysia and took a bit of time to acclimatise before showing his true colours when he won Stage 7 from Shah Alam to Frasers Hill.

"I would like to congratulate all my teammates and I am happy with this yellow jersey although it was supposed to be Natnael Berhane who took it in Frasers Hill," said Reguigui, 25.

"In this final stage, my team controlled the pace from the beginning until the final two laps of the circuit before leaving it to Astana and Orica GreenEdge. I wanted to challenge in the sprint, but I didn't want to take any risks."

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.

GUARDINI DOES IT AGAIN

Stage 4 starts at Kota Bahru

Andra takes his 3rd win at LTdL 2015

Winners of Stage 4

KUALA BERANG, Wednesday 11th March 2015 - Andrea Guardini again proved unstoppable in a bunch spritn when the Astana Pro Team rider took his third win of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) 2015 in a bunch sprint in Stage Four from Kota Baru to Kuala Berang today.

Guardini, 27, beat Team Southeast's Jakub Mareczko to the finish line, with Orica-GreenEdge's Caleb Ewan finishing third this time but held on to both the overall general classification and points classification leads. This was also Guardini's 17th ever win in the race's history, extending even further his already impressive record.

"I am happy with the way the sprint went. I managed a really good sprint to take this win. Today was a really fast paced stage with the speed in the earlier part already very high at 50 to 60 kp/h," said Guardini.

"I then had a good lead-out and I took a good risk, then the job was done. For the moment, this is a good result. But for now, I think I can do more than this."

A five-man breakaway of United Healthcare's Jonathan Clarke, Bretagne-Seche Environnement's Pierre-Luc Perichon, Synergy Baku's Elchin Asadov, Skydive Dubai's Vladimir Gusev and Pegasus Jamalidin Novardianto escaped the peloton after 30km of the 165km stage and they took all the intermediate points on offer for the day before the peloton caught them 2km from the finish.

Ewan lost out to Guardini and had to settle for third this time, but was not raising his hopes to much when asked about his chances of keeping the overall lead to the end of the race.

"I climbed well yesterday and tried to just stay in the group. But I'm not really a pure climber. I prefer to sprint. It depends on the day. If I feel good on the day, then I can climb well, but if I don't then it will be the other way around," said Ewan, who won Stage 3 yesterday after surviving the tough climb across the summit of Titiwangsa.

United Healthcare's Kiel Reijnen retained the mountains classification lead, as did Asian riders classification leader Zhang Wen Long of the Giant-Champion System team.

Stage Five is the longest stage of the race at 200km from Kuala Terengganu to Kuantan with coastal crosswinds and undulating terrain providing a different challenge to the peloton, which could provide an opportunity for a differnet rider to take the top step of the podium.

SECOND STRAIGHT WIN AND RECORD STRETCHED TO 16 AS GUARDINI BOMBS SUNGAI PETAN

Andrea takes the second stage of LTdL 2015

16 wins so far, more to come?

Adiq Husainie of TSG leads in the Best Asian Rider competition

SUNGAI PETANI, Monday 9th March 2015 - Astana's Andrea Guardini registered an emphatic second straight win in a bunch sprint to take Stage 2 of Le Tour de Langkawi 2015 from Alor Star to Sungai Petani today after the Italian edged Orica GrenEdge's Caleb Ewan to the win again.

The victory meant Guardini, 27, increased his record number of victories in LTdL to 16 as he mounts yet another multiple assault on stage wins in the race that has become synonymous with his name.

After a breakaway of six riders highlighted the day, with Malaysia's Loh Sea Keong, brothers Adiq Husainie Othman of TSG and Afiq Huznie Othman of NSC, Hengxiang's Liu Jianpeng, Synergy Baku's Elchin Asadov and Pegasus' Rastra Patria having a go at victory, it was Guardini who rose above the rest to confirm his early season winning form was no fluke with what was also his third stage win of the year.

After the breakaway swept all intermediate points on offer after the first intermediate sprint of the day at kilometre 14 in Pokok Sena, the peloton moved to reel them back with 20km to go and though Sea Keong and Asadov made a last ditch attempt at a duet to the finish, but were swept up by a surging peloton with 6km to go.

In the final sprint Guardini made the first move as Ewan tagged along but the Australian was no match for the Italian again, with Southeast's Jakub Mareczko taking third spot, sloghtly ahead of TSG's Harrif Saleh.

"I think Ewan is strong but maybe in this first two stages it didn't suit him. Tomorrow is a tough stage with a climb in the earlier part and he has a strong team to bring him up and go for the finish, so maybe tomorrow will be a good day for him," said Guardini.

"Our team had to work hard to catch the breakaway today and we were only helped by the other teams in the final 20km, but then we had a good sprinter. This time I had to make the move on my own and went to the front first, but I had good form and managed to stay ahead."

Guardini remains in the yellow jersey and blue jersey as leader of the overall and points classification respectively, while United Healthcare's Kiel Reijnen remained in the lead of the mountains classification.

Adiq Husainie, with time bonuses from the second and third intermediate sprints today, overcame his one second deficit to Hengxiang's Ma Guangtong and now leads the Asian riders' classification by two seconds.

"That was our strategy today and after I had got enough time bonuses to take the jersey, I went to my team car and my director instructed me to drop back to the peloton because tomorrow we have a hard stage with the climb up Titiwangsa, so I needed to save my legs for that," said Adiq Husainie.

"I plan to keep this jersey for as long as I can. At least until the race passes our home state of Terengganu."

Stage 3 tomorrow will cover 170kkm from Gerik to Tanah Merah.