LTdL 2023: Carr overall champion, Syritsa wins final stage
BERNAMA
September 30, 2023
LTdL 2023: Carr overall champion, Syritsa seeded final stage
Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh (front two, right) and her Deputy Adam Adli Abd Halim (front, left) pose with the overall leader of Le Tour de Langkawi 2023 rider EF Education-Easypost Simon Carr. - BERNAMA photo
KUALA LUMPUR: EF Education-Easypost team rider, Simon Carr made history by becoming the first British cyclist to win the title of Overall Champion (Green Jersey) of the prestigious cycling tour race in Asia, Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) 2023.
The 25-year-old emerged Individual Overall Champion when he clocked an eight-day cycle time of 29 hours 17 minutes and 41 seconds, despite only finishing 62nd in today's LTdL final stage (Stage Eight) race.
Even sweeter, Jefferson's teammate Alexander Cepeda followed up his success after finishing second (29:18:30s) leaving Equipo Kern Pharma rider Pablo Castrillo in third (29:18:39s) for the overall LTdL individual classification.
"Winning the Overall Champion I think all team members can be proud of and I'm happy about it.
I think of course on the third day I was split and I knew I had strong legs and this was evident when I won in Genting Highlands, it was the most important day for the Overall Champion also for Jefferson (teammate) in second place it was good for us, we know we have a strong team but it's not really over yet so today we have to rely on all our teammates to come out first and second and a win for me." he said.
Earlier, Astana Qazaqstan Team rider Gleb Syritsa emerged as the Eighth Stage Champion, thus marking his second stage win in the LTdL competition this time.
In the race from Setia Alam to the Petronas Twin Towers (KLCC), Syritsa recorded a cycling time of three hours 12 minutes and 27 seconds, followed by Caja Rural-Seguros RGA rider Daniel Babor and Tudor Pro Cycling Team rider Arvid de Kleijn in second place respectively and third.
De Kleijn at the same time fulfilled the prediction of dominating the title of King of the Sprint since the First Stage without being seriously challenged by any other rider.
The 29-year-old rider remains in the Orange Jersey (Raja Pecut), after collecting 72 points, followed by Syritsa (58 points) and the representative of Human Powered Health, Sasha Weemaes in third position (55 points).
The Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Hill) rightfully belongs to de Kleijn's teammate, Simon Pellaud after collecting 32 points followed by Carr (20 points) and Castrillo (13 points).
Meanwhile, Astana Qazaqstan Team rider Vadim Pronskiy won the title of Asia's Best Rider (White Jersey) after collecting a time record of 29:18:56s, followed by Terengganu Polygon Cycling Team (TSG) rider Jambaljamts Sainbayar (29:21:00s), while representatives Roojai Online Insurance, Ariya Phounsavath in third position (29:23:45s).
