Malucelli Claims Third Stage Victory as Jasch Is Crowned 2026 Tour de Langkawi Champion
(Putrajaya, Malaysia, October 4) The 2026 Le Tour de Langkawi concluded today in Putrajaya with Stage 8 from Muar to Putrajaya, where XDS Astana Team's Italian sprinter Matteo Malucelli claimed his third victory of the race and secured the blue sprint jersey, while Tudor Pro Cycling Team's Lennart Jasch was officially crowned overall champion.
After 188.3km of racing, Malucelli once again proved the strongest in the bunch sprint, beating Riley Pickrell of Modern Adventure Cycling Team, with Christian Van Rees of Picnic PostNL finishing third. The main peloton completed the stage in 4 hours, 6 minutes and 17 seconds.
The victory fulfilled Malucelli's personal target of winning three stages at this year's Tour de Langkawi, following his earlier successes on Stage 1 in Kampar and Stage 3 in Kuala Kangsar.
It was also Malucelli's ninth career stage victory at the Tour de Langkawi since 2024, drawing him level with Graeme Brown on nine stage wins. The all-time record remains with former Astana rider Andrea Guardini, who collected 24 victories at the Malaysian race.
Malucelli credited XDS Astana's teamwork for another successful sprint finish.
"Today we controlled the race with Harold Martin Lopez and Aaron Gate working to chase down the breakaway group. Lev Gonov and Gleb Syritsa then brought me to the front before I launched my sprint in the final 50 meters. It was clearly great teamwork."
The Italian also reflected on his growing connection with the race and Malaysian cycling fans.
"I hope this success at LTdL convinces the team to send me here again in the future. I love racing in Malaysia. It feels like everyone knows me here."
With his third stage victory, Malucelli also secured the Sprint King blue jersey, completing an impressive campaign for XDS Astana.
The day's early action featured a six-rider breakaway, which collected points at the intermediate sprints in Simpang Ampat, Seremban and Nilai, as well as the Category 3 climb at Bukit Mantin.
Tudor and XDS Astana eventually brought the escapees back, and once the race entered Putrajaya, XDS Astana positioned four riders near the front to set up Malucelli for another successful sprint.
While Malucelli celebrated the final stage victory, German rider Lennart Jasch completed an even bigger achievement by securing the overall title.
The 25-year-old Tudor Pro Cycling Team rider finished the eight-stage race with a cumulative time of 26 hours, 57 minutes and 2 seconds, beating Abel Balderstone of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA by 26 seconds.
Jasch also won the King of the Mountains classification with 45 points, four ahead of Petr Rikunov of Wheeltop ROTOR Chengdu Continental Team, completing the race with both the orange and polka-dot jerseys.
The overall victory represents a major breakthrough for Jasch, who came from a speed skating background and made the transition to professional cycling less than three years ago.
His original ambition at the Tour de Langkawi had been a top-five finish, but his Stage 2 victory atop Gunung Jerai transformed his objectives and put him in control of the race.
"It's unbelievable. Less than a year as a professional cyclist and now I've won a 2.ProSeries race. I hope this opens more eyes."
Jasch said accomplishing the result away from Europe made the victory even more meaningful.
"Success here is deeply meaningful and special to me because I accomplished it outside of Europe."
In the Best Asian Rider classification, Japan's Yuhi Todome of Aisan Racing Team secured the white jersey, finishing 3 minutes and 44 seconds ahead of Malaysian rider Tsen Ren Bao of St George Continental Cycling Team.
Caja Rural-Seguros RGA finished the race as the best overall team, while Indonesia's Nusantara Cycling Team claimed the Best Asian Team title. Wheeltop ROTOR Chengdu Continental Team finished second in the Asian team classification.
With the finish in Putrajaya, the 30th edition of Le Tour de Langkawi officially came to an end after eight stages and 1,285.5km of racing.
Malucelli leaves Malaysia with three stage victories and the blue jersey, confirming his status as the dominant sprinter of this year's race. Jasch, meanwhile, emerged as the biggest overall winner of LTdL 2026, combining the orange general classification jersey with the polka-dot King of the Mountains jersey to complete a breakthrough week in Malaysia.
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