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.

BATTLE OF THE SPRINTERS WILL STEAL THE SHOW IN THE EARLY STAGES

All eyes on them this 20th edition : (L-R) Merhawi Kudus (MTN Qhubeka), Sebastian Henao (Sky), Alessandro Petacchi (Southeast), LTdL 2015 CEO Datuk Malik Mydin, Andrea Guardini (Astana), Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Anuar Manan (TSG)

KUALA LUMPUR - LANGKAWI, Saturday 7th March 2015 - While the presence of the world's biggest teams - Team Sky and Saxo-Tinkoff - will arguably be the main draw of the 20th edition of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) that starts in Pantai Chenang tomorrow, the battle of the sprinters is likely to be explosive in the earlier stages.

With a line-up of sprinters that features the likes of Alessandro Petacchi, Andrea Guardini, Caleb Ewan, Francesco Chicchi and Jakub Mareczko, the race will be lit up by explosive bunch sprints in the predominantly flat stages of the race.
Local hopes will lie with TSG's Anuar Manan, who says his team packs a good chance with teammate Harrif Saleh on form, having already bagged two UCI Asia Tour stage wins this season.
The legendary 41-year old Petacchi still packs a powerful sprint, but remains certain that he will be working more for his Southeast teammate Mareczko, while the young Australian Ewan could be the surprise package in this year's edition which will start with Astana's record stage winner Guardini as the favourite.

Both Italians, Petacchi and Guardini began their careers with stage victories in LTdL, Petacchi in 1999 and Guardini in 2011, but while the former is likely to be on the verge of winding down his career, the latter is at his peak and this could yet be his most successful yet, with already a stage win in the Tour of Oman under his belt.

"I don't know if this is the best form of my life, but I have worked a lot during the winter to prepare for this season and I have good form, that showed in Oman where I won a stage and I had good form in the other races leading to this one," said Guardini, who in 2012 achieved a record of six stage wins in one edition of LTdL.
"This year we have two stages less than last year, with eight stages, but there are some stages which could be good, like the one here in Langkawi where I won my first stage. We will first try to go for the first win, then see what happens after that."
Petacchi says he is now more as a lead-out man for Mareczko, but will not pass on an opportunity to go for a win should it arise.
"I can try to sprint for wins, but in our team we have also have a good chance with Mareczko. We need to do good sprints with Mareczko to help him win stages, but if there are some days when he finds it hard, then I can try to win myself," said Petacchi.
Young Ewan comes to the race on the back of a strong showing in the Herald Sun Tour, where he won two stages in his first season with the UCI Pro Team Orica-GreenEdge, but admits the strength of the field could see the going tough for him, but the immense heat in Malaysia could work in his favour.
Team Sky will parade a team led by young Colombian Sebastian Henao, who will be the one the team is banking on to deliver the overall title, but his main challengers could well be in the form of fellow-Colombians in the field, also the young Eritrean Merhawi Kudus, who shocked the world by finishing second overall last year.
"I am going to look at how the race goes. Yes, normally we have a good showing here from Colombians, mainly because we are used to the weather, which is similar. But we are also normally good for the climbs. We have a good team here, with also Philip Deignan capable of climbing well. We will see how it goes," said Henao, 22.

Organised by Human Voyage Sdn Bhd, the 20th edition of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) from 8 to 15 March, 2015 is set to cover more than 1,000km over 8 stages, the UCI 2.HC (hors category) race featuring again as one of the biggest events on the UCI Asia Tour calendar.