While Tinkoff-Saxo has returned to Europe for the big WorldTour spring races, a part of the team has traveled to Malaysia for the Tour of Langkawi taking place in tough, tropical conditions. The eight stage race got off to a quick start, as the sprinters battled on the short 99km parcours. Tinkoff-Saxo’s Nikolay Trusov finished 8th after stage winner Andrea Guardini.
 
On his way from the island of Langkawi to the Malaysian mainland, Tristan Hoffman, sports director on Tinkoff-Saxo, elaborated on the first day of racing.
 
“It was a very short stage, which saw five guys go in the breakaway. Our riders stayed calm and it was up to the sprinter’s teams to chase down the break. In the finale we moved up in the front of the peloton, as we had both Michael Kolar and Nikolay Trusov, who could participate in the sprint”, says Hoffman and adds:
 
“Unfortunately, we had some punctures with five kilometers to go and Pavel Brutt and Michael Kolar couldn’t make it back to the peloton. Trusov was in a good position in the final kilometer and managed to finish eighth after a fairly long sprint”.
 
Stage 1 made a complete 99km circle on the small island of Langkawi with both start and finish in the city of Pentai Cenang. The stage was carried out under the cover of the morning dew so to avoid the more extreme afternoon temperatures. Despite the morning racing, acclimatization is still an important factor.
 
“It is very hot and especially really humid. It takes time to get used to these conditions. We’ll continue to look for our chances during the coming stages and take it day-by-day”, finishes Tristan Hoffman.
 
The stage was decided in a bunch sprint, where Astana’s Andrea Guardini took the win in front of Orica GreenEdge’s Caleb Ewan. Guardini also leads the race with four seconds ahead of Ewan.