LANGKAWI – Dutchman Sjoerd Bax had been struggling with the local heat in the beginning of the 2022 Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) but finally adapted to it to secure a win at Stage 7 and finish in 2 hours 20 minutes 52 seconds.
The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider won his team's third stage victory in this year's LTdL after teammates Jakub Mareczko earlier won Stage 4 and Lionel Taminiaux Stage 5 in the 26th tour edition.
In the first hour of racing, Bax was among the 17 chasers that broke away behind the leading three riders.
However, as another hour passed and with 14km to go, he chased the leading trio by himself until he managed to join China Glory Continental Cycling’s Willie Smit and Burgos-BH’s Adrià Moreno into the 8km towards the finish line.
Smit and Moreno came in second and third, respectively.
“The team has been riding amazingly this week. We already had two wins and I knew today was a good chance for me.
“During the third stage, I had a lot of problems in the heat but I coped with it today.
“I had a gap in the beginning and then I sped up to close the gap with the guys from earlier breakaway.
“After winning Coppa Agostani in Italy (in September), I arrived in Malaysia in good form and confidence,” said the 26-year-old.
Bax was amongst the 104 riders to race through the 107.1km Langkawi island loop, which started and ended in Kuah.
The initial route for the seventh stage was altered at the eleventh hour due to bad weather conditions.
Meanwhile, Movistar’s Ivan Sosa remains in charge of the yellow jersey (general classification), which is 23 seconds ahead of EF Education-Easypost’s Hugh Carthy.
Uno-X Pro Cycling Team’s Erlend Blikra retains the green jersey (sprinters classification) with a 42-point lead, following his sixth stage win yesterday.
Terengganu Polygon Cycling Team’s Nur Aiman Zariff leads the red jersey (climbers classification) on 29 points, while teammate Jambaljamts Sainbayar remains the lead for the white jersey (Best Asian Rider).
The same Langkawi loop will be used for tomorrow’s eighth and final stage, featuring three sprinting zones and three climbing zones with a total distance of 115.9km. – The Vibes, October 17, 2022
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