Minali claims Stage 2 victory in Kota Baru

Italian youngster Riccardo Minali claimed the yellow jersey in an eventful Stage 2 of the Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) from Gerik to Kota Baru.

The 22-year-old Minali, who joined Astana two years ago, won a bunch sprint of 79 riders clocking 5’18:20 to snatch the yellow jersey from Andrea Guardini of BardianiCSF.

Guardini won the first stage on Sunday.

Minali is happy to follow in his father’s footsteps – Italian sprinter Nicola Minali, who won stages in the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta Espana in the 1990s.

“This is my first stage win and my first yellow jersey since I turned professional with Astana two years ago,” said Minali.

“It was a very tough stage today, with the heat and a long climb, early in the stage.

“But my teammates, especially Yevgeniy Gidich worked really hard in the peloton to chase down the breakaway and led me to the front for the bunch sprint.”

He promised to keep the momentum going.

“We’ll try to defend this yellow and green jersey until the end.

“Guardini will surely be back in contention in the flat stages. I’ll try to compete with him and win the points classification.”

The stage win also saw Minali replace Guardini atop the points classification while Manzana Postobon’s Bernardo Albeiro Suaza took over the polka dot jersey from Hengxiang’s Wang Bo.

Minali leads the general classification with a total time of 8’47:13, five seconds ahead of KSPOBianchi’s South Korean rider Seo Joon-yong, while in the points classification he holds 23 points – just four more than second-placed Guardini.

Joon-yong retained the Asian riders’ classification lead after maintaining his position in the front group.

The Stage 3 today will be flat throughout without any categorised climbs, covering 166km from Kota Baru to Kuala Terengganu.

Three intermediate sprints are slated at Jelawat, Kuala Besut and Pantai Penarik before the finish line at Jalan Sultan Zainal Abidin in Kuala Terengganu.