Jakub Mareczko avenges Filippo Pozzato in stage 3

The riders starts form Serdang

Jakub Mareczko takes the win at Pantai Remis

Scott Sunderland of UnitedHealthcare came 2nd while TSG's Zamri Saleh came 3rd

Leaders after stage 3

PANTAI REMIS : Jakub “Kuba” Mareczko gave Wilier Triestina their first victory of the 2017 season in stage 3 of Le Tour de Langkawi at Pantai Remis the day after his team-mate Filippo Pozzato came close. The diminutive Italian outsprinted stage 1 winner Scott Sunderland who moved into the lead of the points classification whereas Ryan Gibbons of South Africa retained the yellow jersey ahead of the queen stage to the Cameron Highlands.

“Finally I broke the ice”, Mareczko commented. “The whole team was dedicated to bring me to victory. I’m grateful to my team-mates for that. Pozzato, [Alberto] Cecchin and [Rafael] Andriato dragged me to the first positions of the peloton and I could launch my sprint with 400 metres to go.”

Tipped for being the “new Andrea Guardini” [in reference to the 22-time stage winner at LTdL], Mareczko won by a length of a bike over Sunderland. “It was difficult with a lot of people moving up all the time ahead of the sprint as everyone was fresh”, the Australian explained. “I’ve started my sprint from a long way back as I was out of position. I came from 25^th wheel at 300m to go while he [Mareczko] was third wheel with 200m to go. His team here is built around him while mine has four guys out of six who are strong in the climbs. They have to protect themselves for GC so I have to ride solo and use other teams.”

Dimension Data did most of the pace at the helm of the peloton behind escape artist Loh Sea Keong (Thailand Continental Team) who was accompanied by Stepan Astafyev (Vino Astana Motors) and Dominic Perez (7/11) with a maximum lead of five minutes.

“In the last two kilometers, I nearly fell about three times”, race leader Gibbons informed. “So my head wasn’t in it. About 200 metres to go, I tried to come out and I just went backwards. Hopefully I can find my head again for the upcoming stages. My team rode all day because they had a lot of faith in me and I was confident in myself. Jacques Janse van Rensburg sat at the front of the peloton by himself for 90 kilometres. I’m sorry to have let the team down. It just wasn’t my day.”

Gibbons added that, being realistic, he expects stage 4 to be his final day in the yellow jersey as his team-mates Mekseb Debesay from Eritrea and Ben O’Connor from Australia will take the team’s leadership over from him. Colombians are set to fill the shoes of their compatriot Miguel Angel “Superman” Lopez who was a brilliant stage winner in the Cameron Highlands one year ago.

Scott Sunderland suggests Azizul Hasni Awang could also win at LTdL

Scott Sunderland of IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness wins the opening stage at Kuala Terengganu

Stage 1 Winners

Race Leaders after stage 1

KUALA TERENGGANU, Wednesday, 22 February 2017 : Former keirin rider Scott Sunderland from Australia won stage 1 of the 2017 Le Tour de Langkawi in Kuala Terengganu and thus followed the path of Dutchman Theo Bos who also successfully made the transition from sprinting on the track to sprinting on the road.

He made IsoWhey Sports Swisswellness’ first appearance to LTdL a big coup as he fended off South Africa’s Ryan Gibbons who is sensational recruit for WorldTour giants Dimension Data while Italian rivals Nicolas Marini of Nippo-Vini Fantini and Jakub Mareczko of Willier Triestina surrendered in third and fourth places.

Sunderland was well aware of winning his first pro race [after stage 1 of the UCI 2.2 Tour of Fuzhou in China in 2015] on the homeland of an old competitor of his: Olympic medalist Azizul Hasni Awang. “I know he’s from Terengganu”, the Australian reacted. “He is a great competitor and such a big presence in keirin racing. I’m aware of his fame in Malaysia. Going from track sprint to this event is definitely a lot different when you have to try to get over the hills and adjust to this style of racing. In the keirin you’ve got five or six other guys. On the road, you have to sprint against fourty or fifty riders. It can be a lot more difficult. But Azizul could definitely make the same move and succeed at LTdL as well. He is a crafty rider. He has a lot of weight on his side. Being a smaller rider [than me], he should be able to get over some of these climbs.”

It was a crash marred finale within ten kilometers to go in Kuala Terengganu once Loh Sea Keong, now riding for Thailand Continental Team, was the last man to be reined in. He was earlier accompanied in a 10-man breakaway by Nur Amirul Fakhruddin Mazuki who delivered for hosting team Terengganu TSG as he brought the first King of the Mountains red jersey home.

“Getting the win and the yellow jersey for IsoWhey Sport Swisswellness on our debut here sets up the team for a good Tour and hopefully I’ll get one more stage victory”, Sunderland declared at the post race press conference. “It was a pretty chaotic finale but the team got me ride in a pretty good position. The crash was close to where I was so I was lucky to get through that and be able to finish off the job with the sprint. Such a win gives you the confidence that you can win another stage. That would be fantastic but it’s already amazing to be here in the lead. I’ll try to hold on to the yellow jersey as long as I can, it’s an amazing event.”

Stage 1 of Le Tour de Langkawi brought neo pro Gibbons under the spotlights. “I’m very happy to be on the podium and give something to the team but I’m also very disappointed to be second”, the Dimension Data rider said. “I kind of waited a little bit too late. The crash happened next to me. I think I was the last rider to avoid it. This result gives me hopes for a stage win by the end of this Tour, hopefully tomorrow.”

“My team worked at perfection”, echoed Marini. “[Riccardo] Stacchiotti and [Giacomo] Berlato helped me tremendously. I had a good sprint. I opened it with Mareczko at 200 metres to go but the first two were really stronger. It’s still long way to go and we’ll try again.”

Stage 2 will be the longest of the 22^nd Le Tour de Langkawi, 208km, and also a hard one from Jerteh to Grik where the race last held a stage finish with eventual Tour de France yellow jersey wearer Rinaldo Nocentini won two years after cycling legend Gianni Bugno. 

Organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Malaysia and managed by Ciclista Sports Sdn Bhd, the 22nd edition of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) from 22 February to 1 March, 2017 is set to cover more than 1,200km over 8 stages, the UCI 2.HC (hors category) race featuring again as one of the biggest events on the UCI Asia Tour calendar.