Russian rider Boris Shpilevsky is best known as a sprinter but he used a breakaway to seize victory on today’s penultimate stage of the Tour de Langkawi. The 28 year old Tabriz Petrochemical Pro Team competitor was one of eleven riders who went clear inside the final 25 kilometres of a shortened stage from Melaka to Nilai, then clipped away after solo attacker Jose Mendes (CCC Polsat Polkowice) inside the final minutes. He joined and then jumped away from the Portuguese rider, holding off the chasers to take the win.
“Today’s race was faster, it was always attacks, attacks, attacks,” Shpilevsky said after the 127 kilometre leg. “The move went inside the final 20 kilometres to go and I was really lucky to be there. When we start to work I thought of the chance to be in this group with this group, but I don’t think about being the winner. We had many very strong guys in the breakaway, such as Robert Forster…it’s very difficult for the sprint [with him]. But I went on the attack from the break at the end and it worked out very well.”
Today’s stage was the first time in seven flat stages that a breakaway succeeded. The others all ended in bunch sprints, with the only previous disruption to that pattern being the two mountain legs. Once Shpilevesky made it into the break, he could have waited to sprint it out against the others who were present; however he didn’t want to take the risk with Forster being there.
“The others, like always, were looking at everyone. Maybe they don’t want to do it [attack] because it’s two kilometres to go, everybody is thinking about the sprint but not about the attack in the last two kilometres. But I jumped clear and got into a small breakaway, finishing five seconds before the others. I’m very happy. This is my best result thus far. We were searching already nine days for this result and we’re really happy, it was expected for me and my team.”
He hit the line two seconds ahead of French rival Perrig Quemeneur (Team Europcar) and five ahead of the next chasers. These were led home by yesterday’s stage winner Forster (United Healthcare), who went clear in the break rather than banking on another bunch gallop.
Meanwhile the main jerseys in the race remained unchanged; race leader Jonathan Monsalve (Androni Giocattoli) finished in the main bunch, 26 seconds behind the winner. He took a win in the first of two intermediate sprints, extending his overall lead to five seconds over Libardo Nino Corredor (Le Tua).
Andrea Guardini finished second in that intermediate sprint but didn’t dispute the second one nor the finish. He’s well clear in the points classification and wants to save his energy for tomorrow. Monsalve also retains his lead in the mountains classification and Rahim Emami (Azad University) remains best Asian rider. However Shpilevsky’s victory did effect an important change in the team’s classification, with his Tabriz Petrochemical squad moving ahead of previous leaders Azad University.
Changes due to weather:
Due to heavy flooding along part of the route, the start in Melaka was delayed one hour until midday. The route was also shortened from 151.7 to 127 kilometres, and the number of intermediate sprints dropped from three to two. The sole climb on today’s route was dropped.
The first intermediate sprint came after just 15.9 kilometres of racing and there Monsalve grabbed first place and added three seconds to his advantage over Nino Corredor. Points leader Andrea Guardini (Farnese Vini – Neri Sottoli) also bolstered his own advantage, netting second ahead of Dennis Van Niekerk (MTN Qhubeka) and his main rival for the blue points jersey, Anuar Manan (Terengganu ProAsia Cycling).
“It has been another very hard stage,” said Monsalve after the finish. “Once again my whole team has worked a lot. When I saw the sign for one kilometre to go to the first sprint, I was marking Libardo to make sure that he wasn’t getting seconds from me. I also realised the sprinters were not going for the sprints so I sprinted and gained three seconds. It makes me more calm for tomorrow when I’ll have to preserve the lead.”
After that, various attacks were fired off, with a notable one being a six man move four kilometres before the second intermediate sprint. There, Zainal Mohd Nur Rizuan (Malaysia National Team) was first to the line, beating Rahim Emami (Azad University Cycling Team), Hossein Askari (Tabriz Petrochemical Team) and Jose Mendes (CCC Polsat Polkowice). They were brought back afterwards.
Inside the final 25 kilometres, eleven riders broke away and were chased by six others. The first of these groups contained yesterday’s stage winner Foster (United HealthCare), who was riding into good form.
He was joined by Takashi Miyazawa (Farnese Vini – Neri Sottoli), Omar Lombardi (Colnago CSF Inox), Perrig Quemeneur (Team Europcar), Koen De Kort (Skil-Shimano), Andrei Krasilnikau (Chipotle Development Team), Mendes, Baptiste Planckaert (Landbouwkrediet) and others, and these held a small but steady advantage over the main field.
Mendes played his hand on the run-in to the finish but his bid was foiled by Shpilevksy (Tabriz Petrochemical Team), who bridged across. He then attacked inside the final kilometre and hit the line two seconds clear of Quemeneur. Forster took third, five seconds back, while the rest of the break came in behind him.
The main bunch was led home 26 seconds later by Dene Rogers (Giant Kenda Pro Cycling Team), with Monsalve and Nino Corredor in this peloton.
Guardini was also there, but opted not to sprint. He explained that the team decided to put its attention on another rider, and also that he wanted to save energy. “In my team we had Miyazawa in the first group so we gave him the green light to look for the victory. As for myself, at three kilometres to go I decided to not sprint for what would be maybe 4 or 5 points, they are not really needed,” he said. “I wasn’t at 100 percent of my capacity today because each day I feel a bit [more] tired. The essential thing today was to consolidate my blue jersey and keep some strength for tomorrow.”
He will aim to take his fifth stage win of the race in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow afternoon. The riders will be hoping that the weather stays dry, particularly as the city centre circuit could be slippery. The contenders will all want to steer clear of trouble and to ride carefully; for Monsalve, it’s important to hold his five second lead over Nino Corredor, sealing the biggest win of his career thus far.