Matteo Malucelli's (Xsd Astana) Malaysian trip started in the best possible way, with the Romagna athlete literally dominating the opening sprint of the Tour de Langkawi. He was one of the most anticipated athletes and lived up to expectations thanks to excellent team work. Second place went to Erlend Blikra (one x), third to Arvid De Kleijn (tudor pro Cycling).

The 29th edition of the Tour de Langkawi began in the Italian night with a stage traditionally dedicated to fast wheels, from Kuah to Kuah, with the group cycling around the famous Malaysian island for 96.7 km on a track practically identical to last year's. No particular difficulties on the Langkawi roads, with ups and downs that did not intimidate the sprinters already focused on the final sprint.

The first part of the race was characterized by a 4-rider attack attempt: Adrien Marie (Unibet Tietema Rockets), Muhammad Nur Aiman Rosli (Terrengganu Cycling Team), Nate Haddem (St. George Continental Cycling Team) and George Matsui (Asian Racing Team) broke away from the group after about 15 km and managed to gain up to 1'20" of advantage, but the sprinters' teams never gave them much space.

As predictable, the stage concluded in a sprint and Matteo Malucelli, fourth last year, managed to take the best position and dominate the sprint, also taking the first leader's jersey and points classification. After a transfer by boat to the main island, tomorrow the Tour de Langkawi will restart from Padang Besar, with the group cycling 166.1 km to reach Kepala Batas where we should witness another sprint finish.

FINISH ORDER

1 Malucelli Matteo XDS Astana Team 02:00:22

2 Blikra Erlend Uno-X Mobility + 00

3 de Kleijn Arvid Tudor Pro Cycling Team + 00

4 Peñalver Manuel Team Polti VisitMalta + 00

5 Kristoff Alexander Uno-X Mobility + 00

6 Rajovic Dusan Solution Tech-Vini Fantini + 00

7 Tesson Jason Team TotalEnergies + 00

8 Brustenga Marc Equipo Kern Pharma + 00

9 Saleh Mohd Harrif Terengganu Cycling Team + 00

10 Eddy Patrick Team Picnic PostNL + 00