An attack from 3rd placed Matthew Brammeier (Synergy Baku) put Duber Quintero's race lead under threat in today's stage of the Tour de Langkawi but the young team showed great maturity to again defend their position at the top. Quintero now faces a huge challenge in tomorrow's queen stage to the Genting Highlands.

Duber Quintero and Team Colombia remain leaders of Tour de Langkawi GC after the 3rd stage (Kampar – Kuala Lumpur 166.5km). In another day characterized by sweltering heat, Andrea Guardini (Astana) won the sprint ahead of yesterday’s stage winner Theo Bos (Belkin) and Yannick Martinez (Europcar).

Duber Quintero, protected by his teammates, keeps leading the overall with 19 seconds on Matthew Brammeier (Sinergy Baku). The Irishman was one of the protagonists of a long escape today.

The Escarabajos foiled the attack, controlling the head of the peloton for the second day in a row. After a few kilometers, along with Brammeier, 5 other riders – Facchini (Androni), Van Rensburg (MTN Qhubeka), White (United Healthcare), Saufi (Terengganu) and Rabou (Singapore) – pushed out their advantage up to 5 minutes but Colombia’s riders and the sprinters’ teams organized the chase.

“My teammates were fantastic and allowed me to keep the jersey for another day”, yellow jersey Quintero said. “The breakaway was insidious, because it featured Matt Brammeier, who was third in the GC. We have handled the situation well and managed to control the break attempt”.

Just before the group came back together, Van Rensburg and White tried to relaunch their action but the attack was reeled in by the peloton guided by Team Colombia and Belkin.

“Even today, we showed unity and maturity defending the yellow jersey”, Sports Director Valerio Tebaldi explained. “We could not leave too much space to the escapees because Brammeier was too close in the GC. Tomorrow we get to Genting Highlands, to the top of arguably the toughest climb of the race. It will not be easy, but we will not give up easily!”

Tomorrow, Sunday March 2nd, the fourth stage will take the riders from Subang to Genting Highlands (110.9km). A flat beginning will give way to the final climb, which has often proved to be decisive for the GC in recent years.