2013 Le Tour de Langkawi – Stage 10 Results

2013 Le Tour de Langkawi finished today after Francesco Chicchi (VIN) wrapped up the blue points jersey by winning Stage 10. Julian Arredondo (PPO) won the overall classification which is also the first stage race victory for the Colombian. He had slipped into the leader’s jersey after he won Stage 5 ahead of Pieter Weening (OGE) at the fabled Genting Highlands climb. Weening finished second, 1 min 15 secs down in the GC with Sergio Pardilla (MTN) in the third place. The wiry Spaniard secured a brilliant result, first GC podium, for the South African team in it’s inaugural year of life in the professional peloton.

Meiyin Wang (HEN) won the mountains classification jersey. Chinese climber also spent brief time in the leader’s jersey after he won Stage 3 in a long range effort on the Cameron Highlands.

Race Report

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 hat-trick 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 hours 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.

2013 Le Tour de Langkawi Summary – Number Readings

2 – Number of stage wins by Francesco Chicchi
2 – Number of stage wins by rising French sprinter Bryan Coquard
5 – Number of stage podium finishes by Francesco Chicchi
1 – Number of GC wins by Julian Arredondo
1 – Number of GC podium finishes by Team MTN-Qhubeka in HC race

Related articles:

2013 Le Tour de Langkawi – Stage 7 Results 2013 Le Tour de Langkawi – Stage 4 Results 2013 Le Tour de Langkawi – Stage 5 Results 2013 Le Tour de Langkawi – Stage 8 Results