LTdL 2026: Riley Powers To Rembau Triumph As Lennart Tightens Grip On Orange Jersey
REMBAU (Negeri Sembilan,Malaysia), Oct 2 (Bernama) — Modern Adventure Pro Cycling rider Riley Pickrell powered to victory in Stage Six of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) 2026 from Pandan Indah to Rembau today, as Germany's Lennart Jasch firmly maintained his grip on the overall leader's Orange Jersey.
The 25-year-old Canadian clocked two hours, 40 minutes and 06 seconds across the 121.3 kilometre (km) route, edging out his main rival and best sprinter classification leader Matteo Malucelli of XDS Astana Team while Tudor Pro Cycling Team's Seppe Van Den Boer crossed the line in third with the same time.
"I think it was because my boys did such an amazing job today, you know, like, the last two sprints, it was very clear that Malucelli and me are super close.
“And the only reason I think I won today was the boys put me in better position than Malucelli's boys. And that's just the nature of bike racing, but I can't thank my teammates enough," he said to reporters here, Friday.
The victory marked a sweet breakthrough for Pickrell after finishing as runner-up behind Malucelli in Stage One (Shah Alam-Kampar) and Stage Three (Sungai Petani- Kuala Kangsar).
"Well, we knew we had to be in really good position and we're hoping my teammate Scott could drop me off just before the corner, but he had really good legs, so he was able to take me through the corner and give me a really good run to the finish and I'm really happy.
"Kieran went in the early break and it meant the Astana team had to ride absolutely full gas from 10km into the race to 15km into the race. Meanwhile, me and my teammates, we could just relax in the peloton, and that's all because of Kieran," he added.
Riley expressed utmost respect for Malucelli describing the Italian as a great sprinter he looks up to and noting that competing against him made the victory even more meaningful.
He added that bicycle racing is inherently a game where one rider's victory requires another's defeat stressing that while he holds great respect for his rival, he remains determined to do his best to beat him every day.
Looking ahead, he noted that while the upcoming stage might suit Malucelli better, anything could happen given the accumulated race distance and fatigue building up in the legs.
Meanwhile Tudor Pro Cycling Team's Lennart Jasch comfortably defended the overall leader's Orange Jersey with a total time of 21:38:39s, maintaining a 42-second lead over Jan Castellon Ribalt of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA (21:39:21s), while Burgos-Burpellet-BH’s Jose Manuel Diaz Gallego sat third (+1:20s).
Lennart also kept hold of the King of the Mountain (Polka Dot Jersey) classification with 45 points, ahead of Wheeltop Rotor Chengdu Petr Rikunov (41 points), while Malucelli retained the Blue Jersey with 44 points, five points ahead of Riley (39 points).
In the battle for the Best Asian Rider (White Jersey), Japan's Yuhi Todome of Aisan Racing Team retained the lead with 21:46:00s, followed by Malaysian riders Tsen Ren Bao of St George Continental Cycling Team (21:49:44s) in second and Malaysia National Team's Tsen Ren Han (21:51:25s) in third.
Tomorrow’s Stage Seven will see the peloton tackle 158.9km route from Dataran Pahlawan in Melaka to Jalan Rahmat, Batu Pahat, offering three sprint zones in Tangkak, Bukit Kepong and Parit Sulong.
-- BERNAMA
