XDS Astana Team started the stage race Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia with a victory: Matteo Malucelli proved the strongest in the bunch sprint at the finish of Stage 1 in Kuah, Langkawi.
After the stage, Malucelli took the lead in the General Classification, as well as the points classification for the best sprinter.
“The team did a fantastic job today, the guys executed everything we had planned before the start, and I want to thank my teammates for this day. In the final, Lev Gonov and Aaron Gate brought me to the front and left me on Kristoff’s wheel with 500 meters to go. In races where there are several teams with strong lead-outs, I prefer to start from one of the favorites’ wheels, so when I found myself in the Uno-X train, everything went according to plan. But then I saw that Blikra and De Kleijn launched their sprint earlier, so I accelerated in the last 300 meters, managed to close the gap and win. Of course, tomorrow I will wear the leader’s jersey, and that will be extra motivation for me in the sprint. Our team will have to control the race, but we are ready to do it to honor the leader’s jersey and show that we are ready to fight. It’s great to start the race with a victory, but I don’t want to stop here. There are still many stages ahead where I’d like to fight in the sprints. The team is ready, and we will definitely keep battling for victories”, – said Matteo Malucelli.
