So I just got back to my home in Girona after completing the Tour de Langkawi with the team. It was a great race for us with Reinardt winning the overall. Here is my take on the week’s racing…
Stage 1
Le Tour de Langkawi, maybe you can also call it Le Tour de Opportunities. With 6 rider teams it’s a difficult race to control and those willing to risk might succeed. I tried, but got caught 5km before the finish.
Stage 2
It was a hot day and the humidity is something else in this part of the world. What was really nice is that our soigneur, Tex, would prepare a bowl of fresh fruit for us after the stages. It is really good for recovery and refreshing after a long and hot day on the bike.
Stage 3
It was another sprint stage today. It was great being part of the leadout again. It is not something I have done too often in my career yet, but we have quite a few sprinters in the team this year and Langkawi has been great to get some more experience in performing a leadout. After each stage and leadout we nailed it better and better. I find that feeling of hunting success very addictive.
Stage 4
For this stage I chose a pic of Reinie, taking 3rd on the Cameron Highlands stage. I got a puncture on this stage just before the climb which made things quite difficult for me but it was still a good job done on the stage. Reinie showed his versatility as a rider climbing with the best.
Stage 5
Stage 6
We were ready to mount another a challenge for the jersey and help Reinie win back a few more seconds today. Nobody expected the Astana rider to puncture so that was some good fortune for us I guess. I was happy with my performance, spending quite a bit of time pacing… my watts were looking pretty good today.
Stage 7
Reinie was in yellow and today was the longest stage of the race. The GC riders attacked us from the start, but we stuck together and rode as a team. It was great teamwork by the boys today, it was a hard day but I loved it. The wind was our friend today, blowing from the side all day long which meant the other times didn’t have such an easy free ride behind us.
Stage 8
Reinie managed to keep the jersey all the way to the finish. What a great experience to be part of a good friends victory, I am so happy for him. I really enjoyed Langkawi. I was a great race with a good team and great staff there supporting us. My next race is Volta Catalunya, it’s a World Tour race and I’m really looking forward to it, follow me on @vanSnail for more updates.
