CAMERON HIGHLANDS, Oct 1 — British rider Max Poole of the DSM-Firmenich PostNL team topped Stage 3 of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) 2024 from Taiping to Cameron Highlands today.
In the most punishing part of the race (over the Titiwangsa range), also known as the Queen stage, covering a distance of 170.3km, the 21-year-old rider crossed the finish line with a time of 4 hours, 24 minutes, and 34 seconds.
Poole staved off the challenge of Astana Qazaqstan Team climbing specialist Harold Martin Lopez and JCL Team UKYO’s Thomas Pesenti, who had to contend with second and third place respectively.
The results saw Poole seize the title as overall leader (green jersey) and King of the Hill (polka dot jersey) after capturing the third climbing zone of the hors category in Brinchang.
“A lot of good ones (cyclists) were near me (during the climb). I tried to finish this job by doing a push when accelerating towards the finish line. It went well. Happy to get the first win here,” said the rider who had won the podium of this year’s Vuelta a Espana race (annual race in Spain).
The white jersey as Asia’s Best rider went to Manabu Ishibashi from JCL Team UKYO, while the orange jersey (Sprint King) was taken by his teammate Matteo Malucelli who won the second stage yesterday.
Tomorrow, the fourth stage race covers a distance of 131.2km from Kuala Kubu Baharu to Bentong, offering three sprint zones at Raub, Sungai Ruan and Sungai Klau, in addition to one climbing zone at the GAP (border between Selangor and Pahang).
— Bernama
