2015 LTdL: Reguigui climbs his way to victory in stage seven

Algerian rider, Youcef Reguigui pulled off a sensational victory in stage seven of the 2015 Le Tour de Langkawi on Saturday stretching from Shah Alam to Fraser's Hill, involving a distance of 180.8km.

The results saw the 25-year-old rider take over the yellow jersey from Australian rider, Caleb Ewan of Orica GreenEdge who had held the jersey since stage three on Tuesday.

In today's race, Reguigui made a bold move by sprinting in the last 10km of Fraser's Hill challenging pathway which was 1,105 metres above sea level before crossing the finishing line in 4 hours 38 minutes and 41 seconds with a bunch of riders.

Speaking to reporters after the race, Reguigui said, he dedicated the victory to his new-born baby, Messah who was delivered by his wife, recently.

"I also would like to thank all of my teammates and also the organisers for this victory...I was happy to win this stage for the first time in my debut," he said.

"On the path, it was not an easy climb for me and also for everybody. However, I was grateful since my body weight was not so heavy, so it had made my task easier to climb up this path," he said.

Reguigui, who was making his maiden appearance in the race, was also confident of retaining the yellow jersey heading to the final stage, tomorrow despite only having a 10-second advantage against his closest rival, Colombian rider, Sebastian Henao of Team Sky.

"The distance in tomorrow's race is not far, so I'm expecting that it will be controlled by sprinters from Orica GreenEdge or Astana Pro Team but hopefully, I can keep this jersey," he said.

Ewan, on the other hand, said he was a bit disappointed after losing the yellow jersey but was eager to bounce back to reclaim the jersey.

He finished in 72nd place out of 117 riders after clocking 4 hours 53 minutes and 09 seconds.

"My leg was not so strong to climb up this path. I was trying to hang on in the last 10km but it was too hard for me.

"I'm a little suprised with his (Reguigui) victory. He maybe is not a good sprinter but he has strong legs to get past this stage," Ewan added.

He, however, was set to clinch the Blue Jersey as King of Sprint after collecting 75 points, 12 points ahead of Reguigui with one more stage left.

In today's race, Japanese rider, Tomohiro Hayakawa of Aisan Racing Team also took over the white jersey as Asian best rider from China's Zhang Wenlong of Giant-Champion System Pro Cycling who dropped to fifth placing overall.

He posted 26 hours 13 minutes and 24 seconds while Zhang was 3 minutes and 10 seconds behind him.

United States rider, Kiel Reijnen of UnitedHealthCare Pro Cycling on the other hand, was set to retain the red jersey which he held since stage one after collecting 39 points, 19 points ahead of Spanish rider, Francisco Mancebo of Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team.

Tomorrow, all 115 riders are set to compete in the final stage involving a distance of 96.1km from Kuala Kubu Baharu to Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur with three sprint zones at Serendah and also two others near Kuala Lumpur, besides a climbing zones at Selayang.