Nil Gimeno won the seventh stage of the Tour de Langkawi, securing a victory that was practically unpredictable. On the completely flat Malacca - Batu Pahat route, everyone was expecting a bunch sprint finish, but the breakaway that started after about twenty kilometers managed to hold off the peloton. The Kern Pharma team rider then beat Mario Aparicio (Burgos team), Andrei Stepanov (Wheeltop Rotor Chengdu) and Adne Van Engelen (Team Terengganu) in a tight sprint. The peloton's sprint, which arrived 33" back, was won by Riley Pickrell, who edged out Matteo Malucelli in sixth place. In the top ten we also note the ninth place finish of Filippo Cettolin.

THE RACE Another golden opportunity for the sprinters at the Tour de Langkawi, which has reached its seventh stage. 158.9 km from Malacca to Batu Pahat, for an extremely hot day, but almost completely flat. The pace was very high from the opening kilometers, well over 52 km/h average for the first hour of racing, during which we witnessed a series of attacks and counter-attacks. The peloton regrouped at km 25 and seven riders took advantage of this. Mario Aparicio (Burgos BH), Nil Gimeno (Kern Pharma), Santiago Herreno (Bardiani CSF 7 Saber), Adne Van Engelen and Kee Zhe Yie (Terengganu TSG), Andrei Stepanov (Wheeltop Rotor Chengdu Team) and George Matsui (Aisan Racing Team) managed to build a maximum advantage of 4 minutes.

Following Riley Pickrell's victory yesterday, the Modern Cycling team took responsibility for controlling the breakaway attack. Despite the powerful effort by the American team, the peloton struggled to close in on the fugitives, who wanted to believe until the end. Mario Aparicio, Nil Gimeno, Adne Van Engelen and Andrei Stepanov managed to maintain a small buffer that allowed them to resist at the front. Gimeno thus won the three-way sprint, beating his breakaway companions.

No changes in the general classification; tomorrow Lennart Jasch will start with the leader's jersey and a 26" advantage over Abel Balderstone as they tackle the eighth and final stage from Muar to Putrajaya.

STAGE RESULTS

1 Gimeno Nil Equipo Kern Pharma 3:12:33

2 Aparicio Mario Burgos Burpellet BH ,,

3 Stepanov Andrei Wheeltop Rotor Chengdu Team ,,

4 van Engelen Adne Terengganu Cycling Team ,,

5 Pickrell Riley Modern Adventure Pro Cycling 0:33

6 Malucelli Matteo XDS Astana Team ,,

7 van Rees Christiaan Team Picnic PostNL ,,

8 Van Den Boer Seppe Bardiani CSF 7 Saber ,,

9 Cettolin Filippo Tudor Pro Cycling Team ,,

10 Syritsa Gleb XDS Astana Team,,

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1 Jasch Lennart Tudor Pro Cycling Team 24:51:45

2 Balderstone Abel Caja Rural - Seguros RGA 0:26

3 Castellon Jan Caja Rural - Seguros RGA 0:42

4 Díaz José Manuel Burgos Burpellet BH 1:20

5 Fougner Eivind Broholt Unibet Rose Rockets 1:37

6 Gutiérrez Jorge Equipo Kern Pharma 1:55

7 Burnett Josh Burgos Burpellet BH 2:56

8 Le Berre Mathis Terengganu Cycling Team 2:58

9 Bregnhøj Mathias TotalEnergies 3:25

10 Christophersen Cedrik Bakke Unibet Rose Rockets 3:30