Guardini at it again in Langkawi

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 Andrea Guardini (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia) took his fourth stage win of the 2012 Tour de Langkawi and equalled the record for stage victories at the Malaysian race in the process. José Serpa enjoyed another untroubled day in the yellow jersey of race leader and remains 30 seconds clear of his Androni-Venezuela teammate José Rujano.

Friday belonged to Guardini, however, and on a rainy afternoon in Chukai, the young Italian timed his effort perfectly to rattle off the bunch finish ahead of Salleh Harrif (Terenggau) and Jacobe Keough (UnitedHealthcare). After winning five stages in last year’s event, Guardini’s total haul now comes to nine, and in just two appearances in Malaysia, he has equalled Graeme Brown’s longstanding record.

“I took my fourth win today and I am happy with that,” Guardini said afterwards, although he warned that the quality of Keough’s lead-out would make him a serious threat in the day’s to come.

“Tomorrow I'll try to get another win but now the strongest train is the UnitedHealthcare one," said Guardini.

While the fluorescent jerseys of Farnese-Selle Italia had been very much to the fore during the bunch sprints to date, on Friday, it was UnitedHealthcare who seized the initiative in the finale. In spite of their best efforts, however, the irrepressible Guardini outkicked Keough and Harrif to take the spoils.

Local rider Harrif was pleased to take his best-ever finish at the Tour de Langkawi, and he admitted that he was planning to go one better on home roads on Saturday.

“My second place win today is one of the most valuable experiences,” he said. “If there is a chance I would like to win because I don't want to disappoint the fans in my town. The route tomorrow is near my home and I know all the ins and outs."

The stage was dominated by a five-man breakaway featuring Chin Lung Huang (RTS Racing Team), Shinichi Fukushima (Terengganu), Wijaya Endura (Indonesia National Team), Abbas Saeiditanha (Azad University) and Hao Liu (Max Success Sports). The quintet broke clear after 15km, but with such a short stage on the agenda, the peloton was loathe to allow their gap extend much beyond two minutes.

At the midway point, Farnese Vini-Selle Italia took up the chase, and the Italian squad diligently set about narrowing the gap ahead of the high-speed finale. In the closing kilometres, a strong delegation from UnitedHealthcare made its presence felt at the front of the bunch, but their efforts would ultimately prove to be in vain. Once again, the explosive Guardini simply had too much in the final 200 metres.