Andrea Guardini picked up where he left off at the Tour de Langkawi, winning stage 1 of the race in Kulim. Guardini missed the 2017 edition of the race but has now won three straight stages having closed out his last appearance with back-to-back wins.
Guardini's 2016 win in Melaka was his last until Sunday in Kulim, which was his 23rd stage win at the Malaysian race and his first in Bardiani-CSF colours. The imperious Italian took the stage win ahead of a surging Joonyong Seo (KSPO Bianchi) and Mekseb Debesay (Dimension Data).
"It was a confusing sprint in the finale. It was hard to be in the first positions but with my teammates, we played our cards really well and didn't take the front of the race," Guardini said of the sprint.
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"We knew it was far away and then with Paolo [Simion] we caught the wheels of the other trains and took the front position with 500 metres to go. He led me out with 200 to go and I started my sprint and won well."
In the set-up for the sprint, Manzana Postobon were driving the pace but were knocked out of contention for the win following a late crash. Guardini and the majority of the favoured sprinters avoided the fall and, in the clean sprint, it was the 28-year-old raising his arms in victory, erasing the memories of his third-place finish in the same stage from 2016.
For the CG riders in the field, stage 1 was not of high importance but, with his third place, Debesay confirmed he is in form and will be an overall contender. The four-second time bonus was an early win for the Dimension Data rider.
How it unfolded
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Race Results http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/le-tour-de-langkawi-2018/stage-1/results
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