25th Mar 2018, Kuala Lumpur – Russian rider, Artem Ovechkin from Terengganu Cycling Team (TSG) created history when he became the first rider from a Malaysian team to win the overall victory of LTdL 2018 which ended at Dataran Merdeka today.
Artem arrived at the line by finishing in one big group in 37th place with the same time 3 hours 10 minutes 25 seconds. With that result, he secured the yellow jersey and became the first Russian to win the race since it started in 1996. Artem completed eight stages with a total distance of 1,347 km in 32 hours 8 minutes 45 seconds.
Turning up as the winner of the final stage was Italian sprinter was Andrea Guardini (Bardiani CSF) who also won the LTdL stage race for the 24th time during his six-time participation since 2012.
The “Mr. Langkawi” beat two other Italians, Manuel Belletti (Androni Giocattoli) and Luca Pacioni (Wilier Triestina) with the same time, 3 hours 10 minutes 25 seconds.
The title of Best Malaysia Rider maintains and belongs to Azman Muhammad Zawawi (TSC).
The stage winner, Guardini (BRD) also won the green jersey (the best sprinter). Also from a Malaysian team, Forca Amskins Racing (FAR) rider, Alvaro Raul Duarte Sandoval was crowned the King of Mountain by bagging the red polka dot jersey after collecting 61 points. The Best Asian Rider (white jersey) was owned by Yevgeniy Gidich (Astana).
The Italian team, Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia won the Best Team Classification of LTdL 2018.
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