Pacioni uses the right strategy to win Stage 6
PETALING JAYA: Winning breeds confidence and confidence breeds wins.
Italy’s Luca Pacioni is surely in the form of his life when he notched his third stage victory of the season by triumphing in Stage Six of the Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) from Tapah to Tanjung Malim yesterday.
The 24-year-old, who rides for Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia, fended off compatriot Riccardo Minali (Astana Pro Team) and local hero Hariff Saleh (Terengganu Cycling Team) in a bunch sprint.
The trio and 107 others completed the 108.5km race – the shortest route in this year’s LTdL – in 2’45:55.
Prior to yesterday’s win, Paciono also won stages in the Tour of Gabon in January and the Tour of Taiwan last week.
Pacioni credited his triumph to applying the right strategy towards the end of the race.
“Before we arrived at the final turn with about 100m to go, I was already sprinting in a comfortable position,” said Pacioni.
“My teammate Eugert Zhupa also worked very hard today to bring me to the front.
“This win is more satisfying because I have proven that I can also compete in the final sprint despite not being a pure sprinter. The key was getting the strategy right.”
Terengganu Cycling Team’s Artem Ovechkin played it safe to cross the finish line with the group, finishing 57th.
He posted a six-stage total time of
23’46:29, 32 seconds ahead of the nearest rival Australian Benjamin Dyball (St George Continental Cycling Team).
“Today was like a rest day for me because it was a short stage, but together with the sprinters’ teams, my team had to work hard throughout the stage to chase down the breakaways,” said Ovechkin, who’s also 10 points ahead of Forca
Amskins’ Alvaro Duarte in the mountains classification.
Harrif continued his fine form to secure his second podium of the week. He also finished third in Stage Four from Dungun-Pekan.
“TSG worked hard today, especially to protect the yellow jersey. But when the peloton caught the last of the breakaways, I shifted my focus to trying to win today’s stage,”
said Harrif.
“There was a small crash as we approached the finish and that disturbed my tempo a little bit and I was slow to react when the riders in front of me began to sprint for the finish line.”
The LTdL resumes today with Stage Seven, the longest stage of the race covering 222.4km from Nilai to Muar.