Arvid de Kleijn Claims Second Stage Win in Melaka at Le Tour de Langkawi 2023
Dutch sprinter Arvid de Kleijn emerged victorious in a closely fought bunch sprint to secure Tudor Cycling Team’s second stage win in the PETRONAS Le Tour de Langkawi 2023. De Kleijn narrowly beat Sasha Weemaes of Human Power Health at the finish line, becoming the first rider to win two stages this year. This marked the second Dutch victory in Melaka, with the first being Jan Koerts in 2001. Gleb Syritsa of Astana Qazaqstan finished third in the stage.
Simon Carr of EF Education-EasyPost maintained his overall lead and retained the PETRONAS Green Jersey for the second consecutive day. Carr was followed by his teammate Alexander Jefferson Cepeda Ortiz and Pablo Castrillo of Equipo Kern Pharma. De Kleijn also held onto the KBS Orange Sprinters’ Jersey for the sixth day, with Enrico Zanoncello of Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizane and Gleb Syritsa as his closest rivals.
De Kleijn expressed his happiness at delivering the win for his team, stating, “It was really tight at the end and we were struggling a bit towards the line. I had maybe one acceleration left but, in the end, got it under control at the right time and managed to finish it off.” He also mentioned that the team would continue to push for wins in the remaining two stages.
Weemaes, who finished second behind de Kleijn in Stage 1, acknowledged his rival’s strength, saying, “Arvid was just stronger today.” Despite this, Weemaes had a perfect lead out in the final sprint but went off too early.
In other categories, Simon Pellaud of Tudor held onto the TOURISM MALAYSIA Red Polka Dot jersey for King of Mountains, while Vadim Pronsky of Astana Qazaqstan maintained the BEAUTIFUL TERENGGANU White Jersey for Best Asian Rider.
The next stage, Stage 7, will be a flat journey from Muar to Seremban 2 and will feature three intermediate sprints. Sprinters will continue to push for a podium finish at Dataran Centrio in Seremban 2.
