Sebastian Henao earned himself the first top-three finish of his professional career by sprinting to eighth place on the concluding stage of the Tour de Langkawi.

The 21 year old climber was always going to be up against it on a day for the fast men, and slipped one place in the overall standings when Valerio Agnoli (Astana) took three bonus seconds by winning the first intermediate sprint.

Far from being deterred however, the Colombian rallied on a fast finishing circuit and sealed his place on the podium by battling hard against some of the sport’s best sprinters. Henao’s eighth-placed finish saw him end the race in third overall, just 10 seconds adrift of Youcef Reguigui (MTN-Qhebeka), who wrapped up the yellow jersey with a nine-second cushion over the opportunist Agnoli.

After the stage, Sports Director Gabriel Rasch explained how events had transpired, and praised a solid team performance that also saw Ian Boswell claim a top-10 finish on GC.

He told TeamSky.com: “It was a really fast start today because that first intermediate sprint was so important. The top of the general classification was very close, and despite our best efforts, Agnoli took three decisive seconds which saw him move up to second.  

“The break went straight after that and things calmed down a bit when Orica-GreenEdge began controlling the peloton.

“The pace gradually ramped back up towards the finish, and it was full gas again when the race came down to that bunch sprint. Sebastian did a tremendous job to finish eighth on the stage, especially given he’s a pure climber. We’re happy with that result, and the general classification on the whole.

“We had a good mix of youth and experience here, and the young guys have learned a lot. This was the first time Sebastian has ever led a team and he coped with that responsibility really well. Ian deserves credit as well and should be pleased with his high placing.

“I’m pleased with the way everyone rode. Philip [Deignan], Nathan [Earle] and Danny [Pate] did everything that was asked of them, and it was a shame CJ [Sutton] got sick as he would have liked that circuit today. We’ll fly back to Europe now and hopefully this will stand them in good stead for the races to come.”