Story by Danny Ooi
Pix by Law Suun Ting
A TOTAL of 132 cyclists took part in stage two of the Le Tour De Langkawi 2016 from Sungai Petani to George Town on February 25.
The cyclists were from 22 cycling teams locally and abroad and they covered a distance of 158km.
Penang Governor Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas and Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng officiated at the prize giving ceremony.
Joining them were Deputy Chief Minister 1 Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon, Deputy Chief Minister 11 Prof Dr P. Ramasamy, State Secretary Datuk
Seri Farizan Darus and assemblymembers Datuk Abdul Malik Abu Kassim (Batu Maung) and Danny Law Heng Kiang (Batu Lanchang).
Also present was Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
Andrea Palini of Skydive Dubai outsprinted Astana’s Andrea Guardini at the finish to win the stage.
Despite finishing in second place, Guardini still held the yellow jersey with a mere two-second advantage over Palini who jumped four rungs to
second spot following the victory.
Stage 2 from Sungai Petani to George Town marked the return of the Le Tour De Langkawi to the island of Penang for the first time since 1999.
During the event Andrea Palini of Skydive Dubai outsprinted Astana’s Andrea Guardini at the on the occasion of an unprecedented finish via the
24km long second bridge and the 5km long Teluk Bahang hill .
Despite finishing in second place, Guardini still held the yellow jersey with a mere two-second advantage against Palini who jumped four rungs to
second spot following today’s victory.
With this, Italy’s Andrea from Astana Pro Team claimed the Overall Winner title, while China’s Wang Meiyin from Hengxiang Cycling clinged two
awards – ‘King Of The Mountain’ & ‘Best Asian Rider. Malaysia National Team cyclist, Loh Sea Keong was bestowed the ‘Most Combative Rider’.
On Feb 24, the cyclists competed in the Stage 1 of the race, from Kangar to Baling over 166.6km.
Stage 2 from Sungai Petani to George Town, marked the return of the Le Tour De Langkawi on the island of Penang for the first time since 1999.
On Feb 26, they will take on stage 3 of the race from Kulim to Kuala Kangsar (107.2km), involves three sprint zones, at Selama, Taiping and
Changkat Jering and two climb zones at Serdang and Bukit Gantang.
The whole race will be competed over 8 stages from Feb 24 to Mar 2, covering a total distance of 1179.
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