After finishing 8th in yesterday's stage - 4th in the bunch sprint - Michael Kolar continued to show that his has the speed to mix it up wirh the best when he took his first top 5 result for Tinkoff-Saxo in today's second stage of the Tour de Langkawi. His team was happy to get safely through a hectic finale that saw several riders hit the deck.

When Tinkoff-Saxo announced that they had signed Michael Kolar for the 2014 season, most headlines were dominated by the fact that he is a close friend of Peter Sagan. In his first races as a professional, however, the young Slovakian has proved that he has the potential to develop into a great sprinter.

Yesterday he was 4th in the bunch sprint behind the breakaway that stayed away to the finish in the opening stage of the Tour de Langkawi, and today he scored his first top 5 result for his new team when he finished 5th in the hectic and crash-marred finale of the second stage. With many more flat stages in the 10-day race to come, the Slovakian hopes to improve on that result, maybe already in tomorrow's stage that finishes in the capital of Kuala Lumpur.

In addition to Kolar's good result, sports director Tristan Hoffman was happy to see all his riders get safely through the dramatic stage.

“It was a wild finish as riders piled up on the road in such a pace that no one was able to get around them," he said. "However, all our boys managed to get safely across the finish line with their skin intact and Michael (Kolar) made a solid result finishing fifth in the confusing bunch sprint. I think tomorrow will offer another sprint and hopefully, it will be a safer finish for everyone."

Theo Bos (Belkin) won the stage while Duber Quintero (Columbia) still leads overall. Michael Kolar is 11th.