Italian Bevilaqua pulls off surprise victory at LTdL penultimate stage
LANGKAWI: Italians riders continue to dominate the podium of the Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) 2019 for third straight day with Simone Bevilacqua securing his first professional victory in the penultimate stage at Pantai Cenang yesterday.
The 22-year-old from Neri Sottoli Selle Italia KTM pulled off a surprise victory in 106.8kmlong Stage Seven, which started and ended at the Underwater World here, by leading the bunch and finishing in two hours, 17 minutes and 59 seconds.
Greek rider, Charlampos Kastrantas representing Brunei Continental Cycling Team finished second, while Australian Craig Wiggins from St George Continental Cycling Team secured third place, all with the same time due to the bunch finish.
Yesterday's result saw a third straight stage win for Italians, as Matteo Pelucchi (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec )won the Stage Five from Tanjung Malim to Taiping and Stage Six from Bagan to Alor Setar in the past two days.
“I am very happy to win a stage in LTdL, I am not a sprinter, but the attack before the final sprint (towards the finishing) created a chance for me to win. I did not expect to win, but once I found a good moment for attack, I attacked very strongly and won it,” Simone told the post-race press conference.
After securing third place on Thursday, Terengganu Inc TSG Cycling Team's (TSG) Mohd Harrif Saleh again emerged as the best Malaysian finisher with a ninth place finish, while Team Sapura Cycling's (TSC) Muhammad Zawawi Azman still leads the overall Best Malaysian Rider chart.
Meanwhile, Team Sapura Cycling rider, Benjamin Dyball from Australia successfully defended his yellow jersey (overall leader) for the third day in row with a total time of 26:58:11s, maintaining the same 27-second advantage over Colombian Hernan Ricardo Aguirre Caipa of Interpro Cycling Academy.
Dyball wrested the most coveted jersey from American rider, Travis McCabe of Floyd's Pro Cycling Team after winning the 114.2km Queen's Stage (Stage Four) from Shah Alam to Genting Highlands on Tuesday.
“Today was a little bit relaxed, each day gets easier and (I am) very close to winning the yellow jersey now. Main focus for tomorrow is to keep the jersey, but if the situation allows, I will go for the stage win,” he said.