There were several pileups during today’s second stage of the Tour de Langkawi, and Japanese rider Yukiya Arashiro was one of those who came off worst in the crashes. The Europcar competitor went down inside the final three kilometres, being caught up in the battle for places in the final sprint. He landed hard on the left side of his face and finally crossing the line one minute 39 seconds after ongoing race leader and double stage winner Andrea Guardini.
Arashiro had said that he was likely to target sprint finishes in the race, and while a little hustle and bustle is normal, today’s incident was certainly not in the plan.
He suffered cuts and scrapes to the left side of his face and, significantly, chipped some teeth.
However it was confirmed to VeloNation several hours after the stage that he was set to continue, and would line out at the start for the third stage of the race.