Brian Coquard was the last French athlete to raise his arms to the sky at the Tour de Langkawi, on March 1st, 2013, when he beat Francesco Chicchi in Kuala Betang. For 12 years, France had been without a victory, but today Joris Delbove has brought home a success in the Malaysian race that had been missing for far too long. The Total Energies athlete managed to give the team, at its first-ever participation, the victory in the queen stage and the momentary first position in the general classification.

"It was an incredible day, only now, after the awards ceremony, am I realizing what happened," Joris Delbove recounts after the finish line – "we came to Malaysia with the team with the goal of winning at least one stage, there were many sprints available and Jason Tesson was our lead rider. Unfortunately, he was unwell from the first day and then had to leave the race. We were forced to reinvent ourselves, motivating each other in the team; I knew this day would be perfect for my characteristics and so I wanted to seize the opportunity. However, planning things is one thing, achieving everything you've thought of is another."

Little was seen of the final climb's last kilometers, at the top of Fraser's Hill there was practically no signal and soon all the camera motorcycles had to give up their work, and at a certain point, even race radio threw in the towel. Conflicting information was arriving at the finish line, so we took the opportunity to ask Joris Delbove for a detailed account of the last kilometers: "Throughout the climb, I tried to maintain a good position in the group. Several riders tried to attack, but they never gained too much advantage. I was focused on Johannessen because he was the athlete I feared most, and I was always on his wheel. The closer the finish got, the more I knew my chances of success were diminishing. I could no longer wait, so I followed my instinct and attacked about 3 km from the finish. No one followed me, I tried to race my own race and give it my all. I'm happy to have gained enough margin to manage to reach the finish line." Delbove, still emotional about today's victory, has already raised his arms to the sky at the Tour of Rwanda this year, but his dream is to one day succeed in a European race, perhaps even in France. He still doesn't know what kind of rider he wants to be, he climbs well but doesn't like changes of pace. He's in his early experiences in professional cycling and wants to learn to find his bearings. The Total Energies Team is giving him confidence and has prepared a contract for another year.

After today's victory, Delbove jumped to the top of the general classification, but he certainly can't sleep soundly. He knows very well that the situation could change at any moment. Four athletes are within just 10 seconds, and he needs to watch his back. "I won the queen stage, but I know very well that it's not enough to secure the final success. On paper, we should wait for the final stage in Kuala Lumpur to see significant time gaps, but in reality, we shouldn't underestimate the other days. Even when a sprint finish seems almost certain, there are several time bonuses available in the intermediate sprints, and I believe that all those with a good position in the classification will try to contest these micro sprints," Delbove explains, highlighting the importance of intermediate sprints that could indeed determine the winner of the final classification. The Team XDS Astana riders are of the same opinion, and after today's good performance, they will bet everything on Nicolas Vinokurov, who is currently 14" behind. The Kazakh team, reinforced in recent days with Aaron Gate accumulating precious time bonuses, is proof that one can never let their guard down and that any moment can be the decisive one. Three days of racing in Malaysia remain, and the battle is more open than ever.