For local fans, he is now an authentic superstar, after all whenever Matteo Malucelli arrives at the Tour de Langkawi he immediately makes his mark. This year it happened just like in the previous edition, first stage and immediately a victory, his seventh success on Malaysian soil which allows him to become the third most successful rider of all time tied with José Serpa. An almost perfect sprint by the XDS Astana team rider who perfectly exploited his team's work, rewarding them with the best possible result.

For Malucelli, today's victory is not just a simple win, but confirmation that he is competitive, that he is the strongest in the group in Malaysia. To better understand the value of his result, however, we need to go back just over 24 hours, when it was far from certain he would start the first stage after leaving the hospital. Matteo's last two days have been a real rollercoaster, yet it had all started well with Saturday morning's training session. Then came the misfortune, less than an hour after leaving, the crash, hospital tests, much uncertainty, afternoon training sessions and even an anti-doping check in the evening. "It was a difficult day, but I've learned that when you crash it's pointless to worry too much, you immediately know if you've hurt yourself or not. What worried me was that my hand had swollen a lot, I've already broken my scaphoid 3 times and whenever I crash I'm always afraid of hurting my hand. The X-rays immediately ruled out a fracture, I had a complicated night because of the blows to my back, but fortunately I had no problems riding the bike, gloves and some protective gear, we sorted everything out," Malucelli explained, unable to help but bring to our minds what had happened in the previous edition: in the sixth stage, starting from Saha Alam, he had crashed and was forced to abandon the Tour de Langkawi while wearing the points classification leader's jersey. "My mind immediately went back to last year, same place, another crash. If in 2025 I had left after winning 3 stages, here I risked finishing the trip with nothing to show for it. This success gives me so much morale, now I can say I've gotten ahead with the crashes, all that's left is to win."

If for someone in the group this morning it wasn't certain to see him sprinting, in the XDS Astana team there were never any doubts: Matteo was the first and only choice. "There was never a plan B, certainly if I hadn't felt good during the race the team would have organized differently, but already from yesterday evening's meeting things were clear. The team always believed in my possibilities, here in Malaysia I feel very comfortable, I think it's because of my large build, but this heat like a "Turkish bath" I like and it makes me perform very well and then here the people are special, they give incredible motivation" continued the Romagna rider. Around him, as usual, the crowd welcomed him with a huge roar and literally competed to get a souvenir photo. Malaysia has always been his territory of conquests, the routes, the climate, everything seems to smile on Matteo who this year wants to add as many victories as possible to his treasure chest, trying to close the gap with Andrea Guardini, almost unreachable at 24 wins.

The 2026 season has been quite intense for Malucelli, with fewer victories, but more prestigious results and especially participation in the Giro, the realization of his small dream. "Racing the Giro gave me a lot mentally, it was a special experience that made me believe in my possibilities. On the other hand, I had fewer victories, for the preparation for the pink race I had to give up races where I've always done well like the Tour of Turkey and Hungary. I believe, however, that all that altitude, that type of training served not only for the Giro, but also this part of the season where I'm collecting a lot," continues Matteo who tomorrow will have to save his legs ahead of the challenging Gurung Jerai climb. The designated captain for the general classification is Colombian Martin Lopez who gives his best when the road starts to climb.