EF Education-Easypost rider Simon Carr created history to become the first British cyclist to clinch the overall champion title (green jersey) in the prestigious Asian cycling tour, Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) 2023.

The 25-year-old rider was crowned the overall individual champion of the eight-day race by clocking 29 hours 17 minutes and 41 seconds despite finishing 62nd in the last stage (eighth stage) of LTdL today.

Adding to the victory, his teammate Jefferson Alexander Cepeda finished second (29:18:30s) leaving Equipo Kern Pharma rider Pablo Castrillo in third (29:18:39s) for the overall LTdL individual classification.

“Being able to win the general classification (GC), I think the whole team can be proud of, so yeah I’m really happy with that,” Carr said.

“I think for sure in the third day I was in the breakaway and I knew I had good legs and obviously when I won Genting Highlands, it was the most important day for the GC. Also Jefferson (teammate) in second is really good for us. We knew we had a strong team but its never really over, so today we had to count on all our teammates to come out with the 1-2 and a victory for me.”

Earlier, Astana Qazaqstan Team rider Gleb Syritsa, emerged as the champion of the eighth stage competition, which was the second stage victory for him in the LTdL competition this time.

In the race from Setia Alam to the Petronas Twin Towers (KLCC), Syritsa recorded a time of 3 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 and third place respectively.

De Kleijn also 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 retained the orange jersey (sprint king), after collecting 72 points, followed by Syritsa (58 points) and Human Powered Health representative, Sasha Weemaes was in third position (55 points).

The polka dot jersey (King of the Mountain) 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 rider Jambaljamts Sainbayar (29:21:00s). The representative of Roojai Online Insurance, Ariya Phounsavath, was in third position (29:23:45s). – Bernama, September 30, 2023.