CHICCHI GETS THE FINAL STAGE VICTORY, ARREDONDO WINS OVERALL

Chicchi takes the win in Dataran Shahbandar

TM Best Malaysian Riders Award - Best Climber Loh Sea Keong, Best Sprinter Anuar Manan, Best Overall Adiq Husainie

Winner of the 18th Edition of LTdL Julian Arredondo kisses the Champion's Trophy

The jersey winners - KOM Red jersey Wang Meiyin, Sprint Blue jersey Francesco Chicchi, Overall GC Yellow jersey Julian Arredondo

KUALA TERENGGANU, Saturday 2 March 2013 - The 10th and final stage victory of the 18th edition of LE Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) 2013 from Tasik Kenyir to Kuala Terengganu saw a dramatic finale with Vini Fantini-Selle Italia's Francesco Chicchi taking his second stage win and stealing the blue jersey from previous holder Andrea Guardini.

Chicchi's victory denied Guardini, who fell sick yesterday and struggled to the finish of the stage, his chance of an historic hattrick of consecutive points classification victories in LTdL.

The biggest success, however, went to Team Nippo-De Rosa's Julian Arredondo who bagged the overall victory and the MTN-Qhubeka team who completed the overall teams victory at the end of the 10-stage 1,467 kilometre race.

Chicchi's tactical planning enabled him to bag the stage win by sprinting earlier ahead of the finish line to collect the 15 points that saw him overake Guardini in the points classification. Guardini failed to place among the top 10 finishers in the stage.

Chicchi, who won Stage 4 of the race from Tapah to Kapar, beat Synergy-Baku's Rico Rogers to the victory, as Blanco Pro Cycling's Greame Brown made it onto the podium with a third place finish.

"I like this race. There is no better start than to be with a new team which is fantastic and win two stages and the points classification," said 32-year old Chicchi who hails from Camiore, Italy.

Arredondo completed the stage in the safety of the peloton to keep his 1 minute and 15 seconds advantage over Orica-GreenEdge's Pieter Weening with a total time of 34 hiours 53 minutes and 07 seconds.

"I am super happy with this result. This is a sweet success for me after going through so many problems with my visa which limited my racing last year to just five or six races," said Arredondo.

"I am with a small team, but we are like family and my teammates stayed close to me especially in tough moments during the last five stages. It is not a matter of whether we are a Pro Tour team or continental. It was the mentality of winning that was important," said Arredondo.

South Africa's MTN-Qhubeka ensured their three top riders remained in the peloton in the final stage to complete the overall teams classification victory with an advantage of 9 minutes over second placed Tabriz Petrochemical of Iran.

Asia also stood tall with Hengxiang Cycling Team's Wang Meiyin from China winning the overall mountains classificatioin along with his white jersey as the best Asian rider, beating riders from Pro Team Astana Alexandr Dyachenko and Andrey Kashechkin, as well as top Japanese rider Yukiya Arashiro of Team Europcar.

Malaysia's top finisher yesterday was again sprinter Anuar Manan of the Synergy-Baku Cycling Project who finished sixth, while compatriot Harrif Saleh of the Terengganu Cycling Team finished 10th, ending the race without a Malaysian podium finish.

Anuar however did step on the podium for his third place in the points classification behind Chicchi and Guardini.

"I had worked hard to ensure that I was in good form to produce my best results in this race. My preparation was better than last year but this time the level of competition was very high with so many top sprinters and UCI Pro Team riders," said Anuar.

"I challenged them every day and I believe my performance3s had made an impact on the top riders and they were aware of my capabilities."

The LTdL 2013, which carries the slogan "The Heat is On", will officially begin in Kangar on February 21 and the race comprises 10 stages, covering 1469.7 kilometres.

The race is sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.HC (hors category) race on the UCI Asia Tour calendar, organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, via the National Sports Council (NSC) in association with the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF).

TWO IN A ROW FOR COQUARD

KUALA BERANG, Friday 1 March 2013 - Team Europcar's Bryan Coquard again proved too strong as he bagged his second consecutive victory in Stage 9 of Le Tour de Langkawi 2013 (LTdL) from Pasir Puteh to Kuala Berang today.

The 20-year old once again found space to launch an explosive sprint to beat Vini Fantini-Selle Italia's Francesco Chicchi and Orica-GreenEdge's veteran Australian sprinter Allan Davis to the finish line of the 123.4km stage in 2 hours 42 minutes 11 seconds.

"To achieve my first win in this race, especially with such a strong field was difficult. But when I found my rhythm, it became easier and today's win has made me very happy," said Coquard.

"My lead-out man Kevin Reza managed to put me on the wheel of Davis with 300m to go, when Greame Brown (Blanco) was in front. After that I found space and managed to sprint to overtake them and all the way to the finish,

"As you can see it is very competitive. Each day the top finishers are not the same ones, so the field has many strong sprinters. But today my team managed to do again what they did yesterday and we won again," added Coquard, winner of the silver medal in the Omnium at the Olympic Games in London last year.

Winner of Stage 4, Chicchi again failed to outdo the young Frenchman Coquard after he was beaten to the line at the final leap when the teams tactical plans went astray with his leadout man Michele Merlo involved in a crash in the final kilometre.

"Merlo had an accident and I had to sprint on my own and I started my sprint in around 25th position, but it was too late because at that point Coquard was too far ahead," said Chicchi, the 2002 under-23 world champion.

Today's stage began as usual with many attacks from the peloton which was then controlled by Vini Fantini, allowing Chicchi to win the first intermediate sprint to close the gap on the points classification leader Andrea Guardini of Astana.

The peloton increased its speed to catch the final breakaway pair of Liu Yilin of Hengxiang and Endra Wijaya of Indonesia, who made their escapoe 35km into the stage and opened up a gap of around 2 minutes before being caught with 20km to go.

Julian Arredondo of Team Nippo-De Rosa maintained his overall lead with a 1 minute and 15 seconds advantage over Orica-GreenEdge's Pieter Weening with the final stage tomorrow remaining.

The challenge for the blue jersey will continue in the final stage tomorrow with Chicchi closing the gap to Guardini to just five points. Guardini has 86 points and Chicchi 81.

Hengxiang's Wang Meiyin confirmed his red jersey victory after the end of the mounbtains competition yesterday.. He repeats his mountains classification victory in the Tour of Qinghai Lake last year.

Meiyin also remains the leader of the Asian riders' classification, which will be confirmed at the end of tomorrow's stage.

South Afirca's MTN-Qhubeka's lead in the teams classification looks unlikely to be threatened in the final stage tomorrow with a nine minutes advantage over second placed Tabriz Petrochemical of Iran.

Once again the locals bit the dust with Anuar Manan (Synergy-Baku Cycling Project) again falling short of his targeted podium spot when he finished 7th and again the best Malaysian finisher.

"I was targeting to win this stage and my teammates worked well for me. But unfortunately in the final kilometre there was a crash in front of me which I had to avoidm which disrupted my momentum. I will try again tomorrow," said Anuar, 26.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian national team's young LTdL debutante Mohd Zulhilmie Afif Ahmad Zamri managed 16th in the stage and admitted he had learned a lot from his first appearance in the race thus far.

"I am getting more used to this level of racing. I used the earlier stages to get myself accustomed to the speed and I watched the professionals closely. I also watched how Anuar Manan competed with them. Today I felt comfortable to bring myself to the front and try my luck in the bunch sprint," said Mohd Zulhilmie, 21.

Stage 10 of LTdL 2013 tomorrow involves a 114.8km route from Tasik Kenyir to Kuala Terengganu with three intermediate sprints, one at Padang Air and two more across the finish line as the peloton does two loops around Kuala Terengganu before the finish.  

The LTdL 2013, which carries the slogan "The Heat is On", will officially begin in Kangar on February 21 and the race comprises 10 stages, covering 1469.7 kilometres.

The race is sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.HC (hors category) race on the UCI Asia Tour calendar, organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, via the National Sports Council (NSC) in association with the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF).

YOUNG COQUARD STORMS TANAH MERAH

The tight finish

Brian shows his Olympic rings tattoo

On the podium in Tanah Merah, 1st Brian Coquard, 2nd Andrew Fenn, 3rd Francesco Chicchi

Pocket rocket Brian Coquard poses with his trophies

The leaders

TANAH MERAH, Thursday 28 February 2013 - Earlier failures despite coming close to winning a stage were put to rest by Team Europcar's Bryan Coquard won a bunch sprint to bag victory in Stage 8 of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) from Kuala Terengganu to Tanah Merah today. 

Coquard, 20, beat Omega Pharma-Quickstep's Andrew Fenn and Stage 4 winner Francesco Chicchi to continue his hot streak with Team Europcar in his debut season as a professional after winning two stages in the Etoile de Besseges before coming to LTdL.

In the flat stage which was expected to finish in a bunch sprint, Coquard, who finished second in Stage 1 in Kulim and fourth in Kuala Kangsar (Stage 2), used the right strategy to sprint from the right and complete the stage in 3 hours 36 minutes and 47 seconds.

Born in Saint Nazaire, France, Coquard who won the silver medal in the omnium track event at the Olympic Games in London 2012, also overcame the disappointment of finishing eighth in Stage 7 in Dungun after a mistake saw him finish 8th.

"Yesterday I wasn't able to sprint well at the final moment but today I worked hard and was lucky to win this stage. My performance is at a good level and I was ready to take another chance today," said Coquard.

"In the final kilometre I was in a good position, in 10th or 11th and I took the chance in the final 200 metres to start my sprint from the right and overtake the riders at the front," saiod Coquard.

"I'm happy to win here because the field here is so strong. This victory is also important for the beginning of my career. I have achieved my target today and I can ride in the final two stages without the pressure of needing to register a victory."

Earlier, the peloton was driven at a very high pace before two riders - Low Ji Wen (OCBC Singapore) and Liu Jianpeng (Hengxiang) managed an escape after 25km and distanced themselves with a gap of almost 12 minutes before the peloton led by Astana, Vini Fantini and Team Nippo-De Rosa began to chase them down.

The yellow jersey holder Julian Arredondo of Team Nippo-De Rosa also retained his overall lead, along with Wang Meiyin of Hengxiang who leads the mountains classification and Asian riders' classification and Andrea Guardini of Astana, who leads the points classification.

South African team MTN Qhubeka also look set to hold on to their overall teams classification lead with two flat stages remaining.

The LTdL 2013, which carries the slogan "The Heat is On", will officially begin in Kangar on February 21 and the race comprises 10 stages, covering 1469.7 kilometres.

The race is sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.HC (hors category) race on the UCI Asia Tour calendar, organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, via the National Sports Council (NSC) in association with the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF).

GUARDINI ENDS WAIT FOR VICTORY IN DUNGUN

The peloton entering the Dungun, district of Terengganu

Guardini finally gets his win in Dungun, ahead of Chicchi (Vini Fantini) and Kroupis (OGE)

Andrea hounded by the press

the stage winners

The jersey leaders

Astana Team Manager Jaan Kirsipuu celebrates with Andrea

DUNGUN, Wednesday 27 February 2013 - Star sprinter Andrea Guardini finally ended the wait for his first win for his new team Astana in Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) 2013 when he won a bunch sprint to bag Stage 7 from Kuantan to Dungun today.

This win brought Guardini's record of wins in LTdL to 12 and was also Astana's first victory of the year. It came after the disappointment of losing out in the final sprint to Theo Bos (Blanco Pro Cycling) and Francesco Chicchi (Vini Fantini-Selle Italia) in stages before this.

Wearing the sprints classification blue jersey which he took in Stage 4, the victory in Dungun is also the 22nd in 24-year old Guardini's career and also improved his chances of a repeat points classification victory.

Guardini beat Stage 4 winner Francesco Chicchi of his former team Vini Fantini-Selle Italia, which was known as Farnese Vini when he recorded his first 11 LTdL victories in 2011 and last year. Orica-GreenEdge's Aidis Kroupis finished third.  

"IT is difficult if I don't win something early in the season. But this year I had to familiarise myself with a new team and new teammates at Astana. I had entered the Tour Down Under and Tour of Qatar without the condition to challenge for wins, but here it was perfect," said Guardini.

"I'm relieved. The challenge is not that easy with so many strong sprinters here. But today, my teammates Assan Bazayev and Ruslan Tleubayev worked hard and rode very fast to find the space and position for me.

"In the final 500 metres, Tleubayev put me on the wheel of Aidis Kroupis and Allan Davis and I made a sprint from the left to overtake them.

"I also knew that Anuar Manan (Synergy-Baku Cycling Project) was getting closer to me in the points classification after he collected points at the intermediate sprints but I focused on the stage win only.

"I'm very happy with the victory and it goes well with the blue jersey," said Guardini, who captured the attention of the world when he won Stage 18 of the Giro d'Italia last year.

The yellow jersey remained with Team Nippo-De Rosa's Julian Arredondo (25 hours 55 minutes 05 seconds), who's team worked hard to prevent any major threat to his lead, particularly Orica-GreenEdge's Pieter Weening, who is one minute and 15 seconds adrift in the general classification.

Henxiang Cycling Team's Wang Meiyin remained the leader of the mountains classification wit 48 points, three more than Arredondo, who did not try to attack at the two king of the mountains hot spots at Kijal and Bukit Anak Dara today. Meiyin also remained the leader of the Asian riders' classification.

The LTdL 2013, which carries the slogan "The Heat is On", will officially begin in Kangar on February 21 and the race comprises 10 stages, covering 1469.7 kilometres. 

The race is sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.HC (hors category) race on the UCI Asia Tour calendar, organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, via the National Sports Council (NSC) in association with the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF).

LEEZER GIVES BLANCO THIRD WIN IN LTDL DEBUT

GC leader Julian Arredondo of Team Nippo - de Rosa

Heavy downpour all along the route

Golas (OPQS) crosses the finishline

On the podium - 1st Leezer (Blanco), 2nd Jung (KSPO), 3rd Golas (OPQS)

Leezer celebrates

Plenty of attacks today

KUANTAN, Tuesday 26 February 2013 - A solo push inside the final five kilometres from a group of 16 initial breakaway riders gave Blanco Pro Cycling's Thomas Leezer a deserved victory in Stage 6, Le Tour de Langkawi 2013's longest stage from Mentakab to Kuantan today.

Leezer, 27, who hails from The Hague in the Netherlands and joined the Blanco team previously known as Rabobank in 2008, broke away from the lead group to cross the finish line alone in 4 hours 33 minutes and 42 seconds.

He finished 27 seconds ahead of South Korea's Jung Ji Min of KSPO and 35 seconds ahead of Michal Golas (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) while another breakaway member Jackson Rodriguez (Androni Giocattoli) barely managed to stay ahead of a surging peloton to win the bunch sprint for fourth place ahead of Astana's Andrea Guardini, the holder of the blue jersey for the points classification lead.

The result of the day did not affect the overall lead of Team Nippo-De Rosa's Julian David Arredondo of Colombia, while Hengxiang's Wang Meiyin's Asian riders' classification lead also remained intact.

Meiyin however regained the Genting red jersey as the leader of the mountains classification which he lost to Arredondo by a point on Monday;s Genting Highlands stage, after he managed to win the category 4 mountains hot spot in Sungai Piul.

Leezer's victory meant the Blanco team made it three victories so far in their LTdL debut, although the day started with news that their top sprinter Theo Bos had pulled out of the race after struggling with flu te past two days.

IT was the Blanco team's 10th victory this season and a sweet one for Leezer who had onbly recently returned to competetive cycling after recovering from a broken shoulder and vertibrae suffered following a crash during a bunch sprint in a race in Belgium last year.

"I think I must have tried 30 or 40 times to breakaway during this stage and thanfully the last one was a good one. It was a different kind of experience, but a happy one.

 "I'm very happy with this win, especially for our team. We have been racing really well as we all need to prove ourselves as we lost our main sponsor (Rabobank) last year, so this drives the team forward," said Leezer.

"I'm also relieved with this win. Actually I thought I was lucky to be here to start this race, but now I've shown that I can also be competitive."

Today's stage, of which the final 50 kilometres were run under heavy torrential rain, saw multiple breakaaway attempts right from the beginning.

Malaysia's Anuar Manan of the Synergy-Baku Cycling Project moved up to second in the points classification behind Guardini after taking first place in the first intermediate sprint of the day then finishing 10th.

"Today I tried to get points in intermediate sprint zones to add to my tally even though it was really hard as the peloton was really fast. After this all the mountains are gone, it is all flat. So I know this is when I have to start making it count and deliver a stage win," said Anuar.

Stage 7 tomorrow moves into Terengganu with a 146.5 kilometre route from Kuantan to Dungun, where the sprinters are expected to take centrestage.

The LTdL 2013, which carries the slogan "The Heat is On", will officially begin in Kangar on February 21 and the race comprises 10 stages, covering 1469.7 kilometres.

The race is sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.HC (hors category) race on the UCI Asia Tour calendar, organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, via the National Sports Council (NSC) in association with the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF).

ARREDONDO TOPS GENTING, SWEEPS YELLOW AND RED JERSEYS

GENTING HIGHLANDS, Monday 25 February 2013 - Team Nippo-De Rosa's Julian Arredondo won Stage 5 of Le Tour de Langkawi 2013 to claim the yellow jersey as the new overall leader of the race at the end of the Tour's toughest stage from the Proton Centre of Excellence in Subang Jaya  to Genting Highlands today.

The 25-year old from Colombia was in second place overall prior to the 110.3 kilometre stage which he completed in 3 hours 11 minutes and 41 seconbds, 26 seconds ahead of Orica-GreenEdge's Pieter Weening in second place and 44 in front of RTS Racing's Victor Nino.

The previous yellow jersey holder Wang Meiyin (Hengxiang Cycling Team), who had a 2 minutes and 43 seconds advantage over Arredondo, only managed to finish 20th and dropped to fifth overall.

Arrendondo who had 20 points in the mountains classification at the start of the stage, added 25 points to his tally to also grab the king of the mountains red jersey from Meiyin.

However, Meiyin still remained in the lead of the Asian riders' classification, thanks to his powerful performance in winning the Cameron Highlands stage on Saturday.

The blue jersey of the points classification leader remained with Astana's Andrea Guardini for another day after the Italian took charge of it when he finished second to Francesco Chicchi in a bunch sprint that ended Stage 4 yesterday.

Right after the official start, Orica-GreenEdge's Travis Meyer made an early breakaway attempt riding solo and opened up a nine minute gap ahead of the peloton and took the mountains hot spot in Bukit Cerakah and three intermediate sprints at Coalfields, PAya Jaras and Gombak, before being caught by the peloton when the climbing began at Genti8ng Sempah.

As expected the climbers waited for the Genting stage before making their big moves and Arredondo, accompanied by his teammate Fortunato Baliani led the front group of 22 riders when they began the final part of the climb at Gohtong Jaya, 10km from the finish.

"I was just watching how the yellow jersey (Meiyin) was behaving today before making my move. I had my teammate Baliani with me and we jumped to attack with 10km to go when we saw that Meiyin had been dropped," said Arredondo.

"This is my biggest win to date. I had won some races as an amateur in Italy and I only turned professional with Team Nippo last year, when I won the Japan Cup.

"Now I have a comfortable lead at the front and I hope my teammates will be able to control the race in the remaining stages."

Meanwhile, Meiyin, who did not get much help from his teammates in the climb, admitted that he was disdappointed in losing the yellow jersey after winning the Cameron Highlands stage.

"I must admit that there are other stronger climbers here but I am satisfied with giving my best so far," said Meiyin.

Guardini, who finished 101st, can't wait to get back to the flat stages where he is targeting his first win in this year's race to add to his record 11 wins achieved in the past two editions.

"Tomorrow is the longest stage and there might be some breakaway attempts, but the final four stages are flat and we can expects some bunch sprints.

"I hope to retain my points classification jersey and at least one stage by the end of the race."

Stage 6 tomorrow is the longest stage of this year's race covering 217.8km from Mentakab to Kuantan with three intermediate sprints in Jerantut, Bandar Jengka and Maran and three mountains hot spots in Sungai Piul, Kota Gelanggi and Jengka.

The LTdL 2013, which carries the slogan "The Heat is On", will officially begin in Kangar on February 21 and the race comprises 10 stages, covering 1469.7 kilometres. 

The race is sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.HC (hors category) race on the UCI Asia Tour calendar, organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, via the National Sports Council (NSC) in association with the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF).

CHICCHI CONQUERS BUNCH SPRINT IN KAPAR

The start at Tapah

Riders going for break

Andrea Guardini wears the Blue jersey

Wong Meiyin still in Yellow

Chicchi takes the stage!

KAPAR, Sunday 24 February 2013 - After settling for two eighth place finishes earlier Vini Fantini-Selle Italia's Francesco Chicchi showed what he was capable of when he surged ahead in a bunch sprint to win Stage 4 of Le Tour de Langkawi 2013 here today.

Camaiore, Italy-born Chicchi, 33, managed to pip Astana's Andrea Guardini and Orica-GreenEdge's Aidis Kroupis in the bunch sprint to cross the finish line in 3 hours 44 minutes and 22 seconds.

This was the first win for Chicchi with his new team Vini Fantini, after moving there from Omega Pharma-Quickstep.

However, Guardini, the LTdL record stage winner with 11 wins to date, gathered 14 points of the day to bring his points classification total to 41 and wrested the Proton blue jersey from Hengxiang's Wang Meiyin.

Meiyin, who created history on the Cameron Highlands stage on Day 3 by sweeping all four leaders' jerseys on offer, still remained as the leader of the overall general classification, the mountains and Asian riders' classification.

"After three hard days, including helping my team's climber Jonathan Monsalve in the Cameron Highlands stage, today I made a decision to try and win this stage," said Chicchi.

"I was behind Guardini when we entered the last 200 metres and managed to overtake him in the final stages. This is my first win in Le Tour de Langkawi and I'm very happy with it because this is a big race," added Chicchi.

"I was amazed to see so many people all along the route, supporting this cycling race and it gave me a lot of motivation to win." Chicchi was the under-23 world road champion in 2002. 

In the 168 kilometre stage that began in Tapah, Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar), Taiji Nishitani (Aisan) and Puchong Sai-udomsin (OCBC Singapore) made an early breakaway that saw them sweep the top three places in all three intermediate sprints at Teluk Intan, Sungai Besar and Kuala Selangor before being caught by the peloton with 3km to go.

Guardini admitted he was happy with gaining the blue jersey but will not be satisfied until he registers a victory in the race this time around with his new team Astana.

"My priority is still to wina stage but I realise the competition this time is very tough with so many good sprinters in the picture. But we still have some opportunities with many flat stages coming after Genting Highlands," said Guardini.

Stage 5 from Proton Shah Alam to Genting Highlands tomorrow will cover a 108km route that is the toughest stage in LTdL which will see the main contenders for the yellow jersey come forward.

The LTdL 2013, which carries the slogan "The Heat is On", will officially begin in Kangar on February 21 and the race comprises 10 stages, covering 1469.7 kilometres. 

The race is sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.HC (hors category) race on the UCI Asia Tour calendar, organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, via the National Sports Council (NSC) in association with the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF).

MEIYIN DOMINATES CAMERON HIGHLANDS STAGE

CAMERON HIGHLANDS, Saturday 23 February 2013 - Hengxiang Cycling Team's Wang Meiyin created his own piece of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) history when he won Stage 3 from Sungai Siput to Cameron Highlands and swept all four leaders' jerseys.

The 25-year old cyclist drew on all his strength to win the 140.7 kilometre stage by riding the final 40 kilometres solo after he dropped four other breakaway partners who had conspired to escape about 10 kilometres into the stage.

Meiyin finished in 3 hours 50 minutes and 01 seconds, 2 minutes and 27 seconds ahead of second placed Julian David Arredondo of Team Nippo and Nathan Haas of Garmin-Sharp.

After leading the Asian riders' classification from the first stage on Thursday, Meiyin yesterday finished by adding the yellow jersey as the overall leader, the blue jersey as the points classification leader andf the red jersey as the mountains classification leader to his collection.

He now leads double stage winner Theo Bos by six points after collecting 36 points in total and has a comfortable lead in the mountains classification with 44 points, with second placed Arredondo only with 20 points. His lead in the Asian riders' classification is now extended to 3 minutes and 38 seconds over second placed Alexandr Dyachenko of Astana.

"This is the greatest day of my life. It is also my biggest success so far," said Meiyin.

"I was only thinking of joining the breakaway, but I didn't expect to win like this. It was not part of our team's plans. The plan was for two other teammates to get in the breakaway, but they didn't manage to do so.

"So I tried to go and succeeded. When we reached the foot of the climb, I managed to drop the other four riders and continue with my pace.

"Maybe the riders in the peloton also made a mistake and didn't try to catch me earlier because they don't know me or they thought they could catch me. So I was lucky."

"But I must admit that this was not an easy climb."

Meiyin added that he will try to defend the lead when the race reaches its most difficult stage, the climb up to Genting Highlands on Monday for Stage Five.

The LTdL 2013, which carries the slogan "The Heat is On", will officially begin in Kangar on February 21 and the race comprises 10 stages, covering 1469.7 kilometres.

The race is sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.HC (hors category) race on the UCI Asia Tour calendar, organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, via the National Sports Council (NSC) in association with the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF).