Predicting the result of the fourth stage of the Tour de Langkawi was practically impossible. Even Petr Rikunov, who was the protagonist of a beautiful victory, would never have expected to make his mark in this way. He, who is not a climber, found himself making the difference on what many in the Malaysian organization considered to be the queen stage.

Already on the attack in the first section, today the Russian from Team Wheeltop Rotor Chengdu Team went all the way, seizing the right breakaway. "It's my first time in Malaysia, I came here to do well, but I never would have imagined winning a mountain stage. Before the race, the team's objective was to perform well in the general classification with Jonathan Caicedo, but the second stage forced us to change our plans, now we're aiming for stage wins. Today I absolutely wanted to get in the breakaway, try to gain at least 6 minutes of advantage and see how it would go, but I knew it would be difficult. I must admit that I was quite surprised when I saw that at the base of the climb we still had 3 minutes, only 5 km from the finish did I realize we could make it"

On paper, Rikunov was the fastest man among the breakaway riders, but 900 meters from the finish he tried to anticipate things and managed to arrive alone at the line. "The guys who were with me in the breakaway were very strong, we immediately understood each other and maintained a good pace, everyone wanted to win. I'm quite fast and at first I wanted to decide it in the sprint, then I realized that the other two remaining were going all out and struggling, I accelerated to see how they would react and as soon as I noticed they weren't following me, I went straight. It was the right moment to make the difference," continued the Russian athlete who, after today's victory, is also the leader of the special classification for the best climber.

What also characterized today's unpredictable stage was the decision by the Tudor team and the general classification leader Lennart Jasch to climb steadily and simply control the situation. A choice that perfectly suited the Genting Highlands climb, long and regular. "Today my teammates were incredible, they led the group all day and set an excellent pace. I expected the climb to be harder but not this long, we didn't want to make a difference so much as prevent others from attacking. I think we couldn't have done more than this and I'm happy with the support I received, you have to consider that we're only halfway through the race and tomorrow we face a demanding day, it was pointless to exhaust my teammates for nothing," explained the German athlete who tomorrow will be tasked with the difficult job of maintaining the leader's jersey. The final climb will be the last opportunity for the group's climbers to leave their mark at the Tour de Langkawi. Will Jasch simply defend himself or will he be the first to attack?