Bos makes it four at Tour de Langkawi

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Belkin put on another sprinting master class to set Theo Bos up for his fourth sprint victory at the Tour de Langkawi, ahead of Andrea Guardini (Astana) and Aidis Kruopis (Orica-GreenEdge).

Bos was behind as the peloton hit the final bend before the finish line, but used speed reminiscent of his track days to overhaul the gap. Guardini came a close second with Kruopis, who launched his sprint first, having to settle for third.

“It was ok and we came early in the front, I said, ‘Yeah I want to be early there.’ Maybe a few guys passed me, I saw Kruopis, he had a good moment but luckily I could follow him and directly pass him,” Bos said after crossing the line. “I saw Guardini in my wheel and the sprint was hard and I thought he was going to pass me. He came really close, but luckily it was enough. I’m really happy. Super, super happy”

This is Bos’ third consecutive victory, after missing out on a couple of occasions earlier in the race. It looks like the Belkin team have found their stride in Malaysia. Bos’ lead-out man Graeme Brown believes that the Dutch team have almost nailed their sprint.

“The team did an awesome job again. Theo obviously the fastest, but as a team we’re riding not perfect but pretty close,” Brown told Cyclingnews. “Hats off to Rick [Flens] and Jack [Bobridge] who have been closing all the breaks down and for taking me inside the last kilometre and Steven [Kruijsiwjk], he’s riding GC here but he’s still pulling full on the front.”

In the points competition, Kruopis went into the final sprint equal on points with Michal Kolar (Tinkoff-Saxo) who took two points in the intermediate sprint. However, his third place was enough to give himself a three-point buffer over the Slovakian. Race leader Misamad Pourseyedi Golakhour finished safely within the bunch to keep his yellow jersey and move another day closer to the overall victory.

After two very long days in the saddle that both breached the 200km mark, the peloton were greeted with a much shorter 111.1km. Looking to move himself up in the general classification, Carlos Quintero (Colombia) went up the road, taking Yonathan Monsalve (Neri Sottoli-YellowFluo) with him. With Quintaro a threat to many in the GC and the memories of stage 1’s escape still fresh in the mind, the peloton only allowed them to build a lead of 2:15.

Quintero and Monsalve were allowed to dangle out front and hover up the majority of the king of the mountains and sprint points. There were a number of attacks from behind, including a concerted effort from mountains jersey holder Matt Brammeier (Synergy Baku). The Irish champion was unable to bridge the gap but protected his small three-point lead. Provided he remains on his bike, he will take the jersey home with him tomorrow.

The peloton finally caught up with the two escapees within the final 10km of racing, before the sprinters’ teams took over. It was a fast and furious finish with a couple of wide sweeping bends to challenge the riders.

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