BENTONG – Arvid de Kleijn of Tudor Pro Cycling Team showcased his winning mentality by capturing Stage 4 of the PETRONAS Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) 2024 at Dataran Bentong on Wednesday.
Known as ‘Little Gorilla’, de Kleijn completed the 131.2-kilometer race from Kuala Kubu Bharu, Selangor, in two hours, 53 minutes, and 37 seconds.
“The race today was quite difficult for sprinters due to the climbs at GAP. However, all the riders did a great job in catching the breakaway group, and I just focused on my sprint.
“I must give credit to my teammates who worked hard throughout the race. I felt responsible for not being able to help the team in the previous two stages,” said de Kleijn.
He then added, even though the race was pretty intense today, he was able to gain his best momentum, similar to his performance last year when he won two stages of LTdL.
De Kleijn’s victory in Stage 4 adds to his collection of wins in the LTdL, having previously won Stages 1 and 6 in 2023.
Matteo Malucelli from JCL Team UKYO, who won Stage 2 on Monday, finished in second place, followed by Manuel Penalver from Team Polti Kometa at third.
Mohamad Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff from Terengganu Cycling Team (TSG) was the best Malaysian rider in this stage, finishing 25th with the same time as the leader.
Despite not making it to the podium today, David Max Poole from Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL retained the Green Jersey as the overall leader with a time of 12:57:35.
The 21-year-old climbing specialist from Great Britain is closely followed by Thomas Pesenti from JCL Team UKYO, just 0.06 seconds behind, while Unai Iribar from Equipo Kern Pharma finished third.
While Poole managed to defend the Green Jersey, he lost the Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains) to Munoz Mario Aparicio from Burgos-BH, who now has 20 points, with Poole in second place at 15 points and Anthon Charmig from
Astana Qazaqstan Team in third with 12 points.
Malucelli maintained the Orange Jersey as the Sprint King with 34 points, followed by de Kleijn with 30 points and Gleb Syritsa from Astana Qazaqstan Team, who won Stage 1 with 26 points.
Manabu Ishibashi from JCL Team UKYO kept the White Jersey (Best Asian) with a time of 12:59:44, followed by teammate Yuma Koishi (13:02:25) and Keigo Kusaba from Aisan Racing Team (AIS) (13:02:29).
In the overall team classifications, Equipo Kern Pharma remains the overall leader with a time of 38:53:18 after four stages.
Astana Qazaqstan Team is following close at second, totalling 38:54:49, followed by Team Polti Kometa at third with 38:54:58.
In the Asian category, JCL Team UKYO leads with a total time of 39:04:42, followed by the national team from Thailand (39:27;30) and Malaysia Pro Cycling (MPC) (39:27:52).
Stage 5 on Thursday will start from the PETRONAS Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur (KLCC) to Melaka over a distance of 167.3 kilometers, featuring three sprint zones in Semenyih, Seremban, and Rembau, along with three climbing zones in Ampang, Bukit Hantu, and Mantin.
