COLOMBIAN Juan Sebastian Molano—who tasted his first WorldTour victory with a stage win in this year’s Vuelta Espana—stamped his mark in a right bunch sprint in Stage 2 of the Petronas Le Tour de Langkawi 2022 Wednesday.
Molano, UAE Team Emirates’ lead-out man, timed his sprint well in the last 200 meters, overpowering Craig Wiggins of Ara Pro Racing Sunshine Coast who came in second in the 178.9-km stage that ended in Dataran Raub.
Except for the Proton King of Mountains jersey, there were no changes in three other jerseys with Astana’s Gleb Syritsa remaining in the leader’s yellow and sprint jerseys.
While Terengganu Polygon Cycling Team’s Jambaljamts Sanbayar still leads the Best Asian Rider category with Thailand Continental Team’s Peerapol Chanwchiangkwang trailing closely in second spot.
The Astana train was active in the last 5 kms, preparing Syrista for the final sprint but in the end had to settle for third spot despite being in a good position to repeat his win Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur.
Movistar, Lotto Soudal and Team Emirates scrambled to set their sprinters but it was Molano who had the edge to complete the race in four hours, nine minutes and 20 seconds.
“Unlike yesterday, I felt good today and went for the sprint after realizing I’m in a good position to finish off the race in the last 200 meters,” said the 27-year-old Paipa-born Colombian.
Local rider Mohamad Izzat Hilmi Abdul Halil was the toast of the national team, bringing cheers to the Malaysian camp after emerging as the stage’s Best Asian Rider.
Terengganu Polygon Cycling Team’s Muhammad Nur Aiman Zariff, Southeast Asian Games gold medalist and LTDL 2020 King of Mountains winner, hogged the limelight after winning two categorized climbs to snatch the mountains classification leader’s jersey from teammate Jambaljamts Sanbayar.
Nur Aiman rode well in the early part of the race, winning both categorized climbs at 8.2 kms in Petasih and Category 3 climb at Bukit Damar (122.8 kms).
Sanbayar remained leader in the Asian category after placing third overall in the general classification standings.
“Our plan worked well and I’m happy to be able to head for the decisive stage in Genting tomorrow with the red jersey on my back. I’ll give my all and hopefully, we will able to deliver good results tomorrow,” Nur Aiman said.
A total of 112 riders started at Kuala Klawang for the race’s longest stage with Gleb Syritsa of Astana Qazaqstan leading the peloton in Petronas yellow Jersey, along with Erlend Blikra (Uno-X) in Petronas green jersey as the second best sprinter, Terengganu Polygon Cycling Team’s (TSG) Jambaljamts in Proton red jersey and KBS white jersey wearer Peerapol Chanwchiangkwang (Thailand Continental Team) as Asia’s second best rider.