Chris Sutton sprinted to seventh place on day four of the Tour de Langkawi as Andrea Guardini sealed a hat-trick of stage victories.

Sutton was once again given free reign as the 165.4km trek from Kota Bharu to Kuala Berang neared its conclusion, and battled his way into contention as the action reached another fast-paced finish.

Despite his best efforts, Sutton faded with the finish line in sight and it was Guardini who emerged to make it three wins from four ahead of Jakub Mareczko (Southeast) and Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge).

Ewan’s place in the top three saw him take four bonus seconds, and that ensured his lead at the top of the overall standings grew to 17 seconds over Natnael Berhane (MTN – Quebeka). Sebastian Henao, Ian Boswell and Philip Deignan all remain well positioned for Team Sky, with the trio sitting just 26 seconds off the pace with the decisive stages still to come.

Sports Director Gabriel Rasch admitted after the stage  it had been a relatively straightforward day for his riders, but insisted they will have to have their wits about them when the race resumes on Thursday.

He told TeamSky.com: “There wasn’t too much for us to do after a busy start today.

“We tried to get in the breakaway, but with us being one of the biggest teams here, no-one wanted to let us get away. We also worked hard to chase down a number of break attempts that had riders from bigger teams in it, but when the right move went, we were able to sit in the peloton and conserve our energy for the climbs coming up later in the week.

“The stage was passed really quickly and I think they covered around 120km in the first three hours. Astana and GreenEdge had to work hard to bring the escapees back.

“We don’t have a lead-out train here, so we made sure Sebastian, Ian and Philip were well supported during the last 5km and let CJ do his own thing in the sprint. He did well today to get himself in the mix.

“Tomorrow is another flat stage, but because it’s on the coastline there will be the threat of crosswinds. If they do whip up, we’ll see what we can do, and it could be an exciting day.”