Team Colombia-Coldeportes’ Sebastian Molano did not disappoint in another opportunity for sprinters in Tour de Langkawi stage 6 (Maran – Karak). In spite of the effort made in yesterday’s breakaway, the Colombian youngster took fourth in the bunch sprint after 96,6 Km, as the overall leader, Aussie Caleb Ewan (Orica GreenEDGE), claimed his second stage-win in the Malaysian race by beating Italian Jakub Mareczko (Southeast) and Brit Chris Sutton (Team Sky).

Claudio Corti’s Team veteran, Leonardo Duque, maintained the sixth overall place 0:32 behind Ewan with two stages to go.

A 4-man group – Andreetta (Bardiani), Asanov (Sinergy Baku), Kwon (KSPO) and Sun (Giant Champion System) – wenton the attack right away, but the peloton led by Orica and Astana didn’t leave them any chance, closing down the escapees with 5 km to go. From there, the Escarabajos moved to the front of the peloton, and in the last kilometer Duque launched Molano’s sprint which ended with a fourth place at the finishing line.

“I can be satisfied with the performance of the guys”, Sports Director Valerio Tebaldi said. “We did not want to take risks in view of the queen stag. In addition, Duque set up Molano perfectly: unfortunately he was closed by Team Sky’s rider but he is showing his good qualities with consistency. We should not forget he is only 20, and making his first experiences at this level.”

The only downside of the day was the nasty crash of Daniel Martinez with 10km to go. The 18-year-old rider still managed to finish the race though, while the consequences of the crash will be evaluated in the next few hours.

Tomorrow the riders will face the hardest stage of the race (Shal Alam – Bukit Fraser 170 Km), whose final was modified due to impracticability of the classic Genting Highland ascent. The final climb will be shorter, but that does not affect Rodolfo Torres and the Escarabajos’ mood. “The final climb has changed, but our attitude has not: the whole team is focused on tomorrow,” Rodolfo Torres commented.