Tinkoff-Saxo made an effort to catch the sprinters off guard, as Pavel Brutt launched a late attack towards the finish line. Despite a powerful effort, Brutt was caught with few kilometers to go and stage 3 of Tour de Langkawi was settled among the sprinters, where Caleb Ewan proved the fastest man on the day.

After the stage, sport director Tristan Hoffman noted that he was pleased with the effort made by the team.

“Pavel Brutt attacked within the finale and kept the peloton at bay for some time before he was caught with three kilometers to go. I’m satisfied with his effort, which was really quite impressive. However the peloton caught him and the stage ended in another sprint finish”, says Tristan Hoffman.

Early on the stage, the riders had to tackle a first category climb, which created gaps and splits in the peloton. Tinkoff-Saxo had four riders among the first select group of 45 riders – something Hoffman sees as a sign of form.

“The climb definitely thinned out the peloton and we had Jesper Hansen, Edward Beltran, Pavel Brutt and Bruno Pires among the group of favorites chasing down the early breakaway. I take this as a sign that our guys are ready for the decisive stages”, says Tristan Hoffman and adds:

“We’ll soon head into terrain where it’s possible to create a selection on the climbs and hills. The boys are ready and they got through today safely except Michael Kolar, who had a crash, but he’s able to continue”.

After the first category climb, the riders had more than 100km to the finish line in Tanah Merah. This meant that the heavier guys in the peloton made their way back to the front group and the stage was then settled in another sprint finish, where Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge) proved the fastest.