KULAI – VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane rider, Manuele Tarozzi demonstrated exceptional skill by winning Stage 6 of the PETRONAS Le Tour de Langkawi 2024 which took place from Dataran Penggaram, Batu Pahat to Kulai over a distance of 123.4 kilometers on Friday.
Tarozzi crossed the finish line with a time of 2 hours, 28 minutes, and 58 seconds, beating EF Education-Easypost’s Stefan de Bod, who finished in second place.
Tarozzi and de Bod were neck to neck with 500 meters remaining, but the 26-year-old Italian’s strong sprint propelled him to victory.
Tudor Pro Cycling Team’s Arvid de Kleijn finished third with a time of 2:29:07.
Malaysian Pro Cycling (MPC) rider Ahmad Syazrin Awang Ilah was the best Malaysian finisher, placing 23rd with a time of 2:29:07.
“I’m really happy today; everything went according to plan. I maintained my pace during the breakaway and then sprinted faster in the last 2 kilometers. I knew Stefan would challenge me at the end, but I tried to stay ahead. My strategy worked today,” said Tarozzi.
When asked about the head-to-head situation with Tarozzi, de Bod acknowledged that his rival was more prepared mentally and physically in the final 500 meters.
“I tried to challenge and catch him from behind, but I couldn’t. I feel a bit disappointed for not winning today, but I’ll keep trying in the next two stages. Today’s race was a learning experience, and I’ll use it as motivation to chase victory in this race,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL rider David Max Poole, who finished 33rd in Stage 6, retained the Green Jersey as the overall leader with a time of 19:02:03.
He is closely followed by JCL Team UKYO’s Thomas Pesenti, who is 0.14 seconds behind, and Unai Iribar Jauregi from Equipo Kern Pharma in third.
Despite missing out on a third consecutive win after victories in Stages 4 and 5, de Kleijn was still smiling as he held the Orange Jersey for the King of the Sprint.
Known as ‘Little Gorilla’, de Kleijn accumulated 54 points, four points ahead of Matteo Malucelli from JCL Team UKYO, who has 50 points.
As there were no climbing zones in Stage 6, the Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains) remained with Burgos-BH rider Munoz Mario Aparicio, who has 27 points, followed by David Max Poole (22 points) and Anthon Charmig from Astana Qazaqstan Team (12 points).
JCL Team UKYO’s Manabu Ishibashi maintained the White Jersey (Best Asian) with a time of 19:04:21, followed by his teammate Yuma Koishi (19:07:02) and Keigo Kusaba from Aisan Racing Team (19:07:06).
Meanwhile, Equipo Kern Pharma continued to lead the overall standings with a time of 57:07:09, followed by Astana Qazaqstan Team (57:08:40) and Team Polti Kometa (57:08:49). In the Asian category, JCL Team UKYO also remains in the overall lead with a time of 57:18:33, followed by the Thailand national team (57:41:21) and MPC (57:41:43).
The final two stages will see Sarawak as the host, with Stage 7 on Saturday starting from Miri to Bintulu over a distance of 199.3 kilometers, featuring three sprint zones in Suai, Nyalau, and Kidurong, and one climbing zone in Bintulu.
