KUALA LUMPUR: Italian Matteo Pelucchi emerged victorious while general classification (GC) leader Benjamin Dyball survived unscathed despite an aggressive day of racing in stage five of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) from Tanjung Malim to Taiping today.
Though it was the second longest stage in LTdL at 200.1km, the pace was frenetic from early on with numerous attacks launched.
This later settled down into a group of eight riders in the lead that included Team Sapura Cycling's (TSC) Christian Raileanu, who was sent to keep TSC in charge of yellow.
The group were eventually caught at about 2km from the finish, allowing Pelucchi of Androni-Giocattoli Sidermec to edge Blake Quick (St George Continental Cycling Team) to victory in a bunch sprint.
Stage three winner Travis McCabe (Floyd's Pro Cycling) came in third while Terengganu Cycling Team's (TSG) Harrif Saleh just missed out on the podium in fourth.
Dyball also finished comfortably in the group to retain his 27-second lead atop the GC.
Pelucchi, who came in second to McCabe in stage three, said he believed the breakaway group, who at one point held a three-minute advantage over the peloton, would be tough to catch.
“In the beginning we thought that it was already lost as we believed the breakaway group would survive,” said Pelucchi.
“But we fought hard and went full gas in the last 30km and were successful in catching them.
“We then organised the sprint and (my teammate) Marco Benfatto helped me a lot in the final stages. Fortunately, I still had the legs and got the victory.
“I feel very happy to repay the faith my team have in me and finally win here.”
Pelucchi is no stranger to finishing on the podium in LTdL as he came in second to McCabe in the third stage on Monday and had also managed to finish second in stage nine of LTdL in 2012.
Dyball, who romped to victory in stage four in Genting Highlands on Tuesday, said he was happy to be able to spend another day in the yellow jersey.
“The first hour today (yesterday) was very fast, it was just attack after attack,” he said.
“"It is good to get (one of the) longest stages out of the way. The next three days should be a little bit easier. It is good to have another day in the yellow.”
The sixth stage of LTdL will begin tomorrow in Bagan and end in Alor Star covering a total distance of 130.8km.
There will be three intermediate sprints at Sungai Petani, Gurun and Pendang with no categorised climbs, which should make it a day for the sprinters to excel.