De Kleijn continues winning and sprints to victory in Tour de Langkawi
A sprint finish wasn’t guaranteed on Stage 4 of the Tour de Langkawi, as the 6-man breakaway made the peloton’s comeback really tough. Thanks to the strong teamwork from Tudor Pro Cycling, pulling together to reduce the gap, the peloton caught the fugitives in the last few hundred meters. Maikel Zijlaard’s brilliant lead-out allowed Arvid to contest the victory.
Winning on Malaysian ground marked the fourth victory of the season for the ‘Dutch Gorilla’, who had even missed part of the season due to a knee injury.
De Kleijn said after the finish that it was a hard day on the bike. The sprinter, riding the BMC Teammachine R01, said: "We started with a climb where I think a lot of sprinters already struggled to get over, and afterward, with the strong break that didn’t give up on their chances at all.”
“We had to pull really hard to catch them, but the guys did an incredible job to make it, and in the end, I only had Maikel left for the lead-out,” De Kleijn continued.
“We know from earlier experiences how strong he is, and I just had to focus on the final sprint. We knew it would be difficult to catch the break, but the plan was to sprint regardless.”
He concluded: “I’m really happy, especially after the first two stages where I made some mistakes. Sprinting here is different than in Europe, but it’s a good learning experience to do these high-speed sprints. I’m happy to have finished it off today. There’s more to come, and I’m looking forward to the next sprints.”
