KUALA TERENGGANU — Arvid de Kleijn of Tudor Pro Cycling Team powered his way to a stunning victory in the opening stage of the Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) today.
The Dutch cyclist, nicknamed The Little Gorilla, fulfilled his pledge to triumph in at least one of the sprint stages at the LTdL.
Today he delivered on that promise when he muscled his way to the front after being in sixth position just before the finish line.
“The last 250m I was in sixth position and Gleb Syritsa just went and I had follow because I was too far behind.
“I was actually too late but then I still had the power to come through so yeah I’m just happy,” he said.
Sasha Weemaes from Human Powered Health finished second, while Syritsa from Astana Qazaqstan claimed the third place.
Malaysia National Team rider Mohamad Izzat Hilmi Abdul Halil finished as the best Malaysian in fourth place.
Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff takes possession of the polka dot jersey for the King of the Mountain (KOM) classification.
“I had planned to secure maximum points in both KOMs, but in Sekayu, I was taken by surprise when Tegshbayar Batsaikhan just started sprinting.
“I tried to catch up to him but could only maintain my position and accumulate more points,” said the Terengganu Polygon Cycling Team rider.
Today’s first stage flagged off in Kerteh and ended in Kuala Terengganu, covering a distance of 187.4 kilometres.
Tomorrow’s stage two will start in Kuala Terengganu and ends in Kota Bharu covering a distance of 186.2km. — September 23, 2023