Sebastian Henao moved up to second place overall at the Tour de Langkawi after taking the runner-up spot on the queen stage.

At 21 the young Colombian looked every inch a team leader as a select group of 15 riders headed into the final kilometre on Fraser’s Hill.

Henao jumped out of the pack but was just unable to match the kick of Youcef Reguigui (MTN Qhubeka) as the Algerian took out the victory.

The result saw Henao move up to second overall, 10 seconds back on Reguigui, and level on time with Pierre-Luc Perichon (Bretagne Seche Environnment) with one day still to race.

Team Sky had endeavoured to make the 180.8km test hard and hit the front to significantly thin out the group on the relentless first-category climb.

Ian Boswell led the lead pack into the final kilometres and after a huge stint on the front the American was still able to elevate himself into 10th overall, 22 seconds back on the yellow jersey.

After the stage Sports Director Gabriel Rasch praised the work of the team in setting up Henao, who confirmed his potential as a future star.

“Sebastian was a little bit disappointed because the team did a really good job for him and he wanted to finish it off," he explained. "Nathan (Earle) did more than 100km pulling and they all set it up for the end. Danny (Pate) and Philip (Deignan) did great work before Ian took over. The climb and particularly the last part of it wasn’t hard enough to suit Sebastian. He just got beaten on the line.

“He might be disappointed but I’m happy with him. He’s got a great result and we have to remember he’s a really young rider. He has huge potential for the future. Races like these are all about being able to give riders like him, Ian and those guys chance to be at the front. It’s normal for him to be a bit disappointed but I think when he looks back at it he’ll be happy with how he rode.

“CJ (Sutton) got ill overnight with a fever so he wasn’t able to start today. With the times so close on GC tomorrow is going to be a challenge. We need to be vigilant, particularly early on with the break as there are certain riders we can’t allow to get bonus seconds. It’s still far from over.”