BALING – George Jackson from Bolton Equities Black Spoke sprinted his way to a win on Stage 3 of the Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) today.
The 183.1km-race started in Jeli, Kelantan and ended in Baling, Kedah.
It was a climb-heavy route including a Category 1 summit up Puncak Titiwangsa stretching a distance of 1,066m.
Jackson coming off a stellar Tour of Taihu Lake in China where he took home three jerseys (Youth classification, Points classification and General classification), finished ahead of yesterday’s second runner-up Enrico Zanoncello from Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizane.
Carlos Canal from Euskaltel-Euskadi rounded up the podium.
Jackson had earlier said in the official press conference on Friday that he is not a pure climber.
“I feel good today, (after) we got over the climbs there were not many sprints.
“But I was in a good position and my teammates chased all day because there was a dangerous break and were happy to get the job done.
“I’m pretty stoked to get the win (in Malaysia) coming from Taihu but I knew the field was a step up from Taihu so yeah it’s cool to actually get it done,” said Jackson.
Muhammad Nur Aiman Rosli from the national team was the best Malaysian finisher crossing the finish line at Jalan Syed Sheh in Baling, Kedah in sixth position.
Nur Aiman also took over the white jersey for Best Asian Rider classification from Tegshbayar Batsaikhan of Roojai Online Insurance.
In the King of Mountain classification (polka dot jersey), Swiss Simon Pellaud from Tudor Pro Cycling Team dominated the climbs today winning three out of the four zones in Jeli, Puncak Titiwangsa, and Sri Banding.
He took over from Nur Amirull Fakhruddin Mazuki from the Terengganu Polygon Cycling Team.
Stage 4 tomorrow will start in Bukit Mertajam, Seberang Perai in Penang and ends in Meru Raya, Ipoh in Perak, covering a distance of 140.2km. – September 25, 2023
Stage 3 Classification winners:
Individual General Classification (Green Jersey):
Enrico Zanoncello of Tudor Pro Cycling Team
Best Asian Rider (White Jersey):
Muhammad Nur Aiman Rosli of Malaysia National Team
Best Sprinter (Orange Jersey):
Arvid de Kleijn of Tudor Pro Cycling Team
Best Climber (Polka Dot Jersey):
Simon Pellaud of Tudor Pro Cycling Team
Most Combative Rider:
Simon Carr of EF Education-EasyPost