A day after proving his climbing legs on the queen stage up Cameron Highlands, Ryan Gibbons was in his element on the flat fifth stage of le Tour de Langkawi where the race leader claimed victory in the bunch sprint.
Three times a top three finisher so far at the race, the Dimension Data rider was too fast for Jacob Mareczko (Wilier-Trestina) while Marco Benfatto (Androni) was third. Benfatto, however, would be relegated for "irregular sprinting,” with Travis McCabe (UnitedHealthcare) instead rounding out the podium on the official results.
"From the start, getting second on stage 1 was an achievement but today was a sense of relief more than anything and I’m just so happy to get the win for the team but also for myself. The first of my career so a very good day today," Gibbons said after the stage.
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"I still think that if I am having a good day, I can sprint on a flat road but today with a little bit of a drag and the road surface being brick, I think it suited me a little more. My team was incredible, they supported me and put me in perfect position, and it would have been hard not to win with the job they did."
Stage 3 winner Mareczko was the closest challenger to Gibbons but explained to Cyclingnews that he had too much to do in the finale. "Four kilometres to go, some guy fell down and I with my team lost position because of this. In the final metres I was in third position behind the winner and I couldn't get in front of him," said Mareczko.
Victory tightens Gibbons' grip on the yellow jersey with the overall victory now all but assured. The 22-year-old neo-pro also now leads the sprint classification but his goals remain more wins and the yellow jersey. "Obviously the focus is the yellow jersey and stage wins. If the teal jersey comes with it, then it will be great but it is not a focus and we won't be targeting it," he said of the other classification he leads.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Race Results http://ift.tt/2lnMF4g
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