LTdL 2026: Lennart Pulls Off 'Double' To Claim Overall Crown As Tour Ends In Putrajaya

PUTRAJAYA, Oct 4 (Bernama) — German rider Lennart Jasch powered his way by capturing a sensational double, winning both the overall General Classification and King of the Mountain crowns as the 2026 Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) concluded its eight stage spectacle from Muar to Putrajaya, today.

The 26 year old Tudor Pro Cycling Team rider demonstrated immense composure to defend the Orange Jersey from Stage Two where he conquered the brutal road of Gunung Jerai from Taiping, all the way to the finish line, clocking an aggregate winning time of 28 hours, 57 minutes and 02 seconds.

"Super happy. Well, it's another really tough day, so like I said yesterday, might look easy on paper, but it was definitely (not) easy, especially the last kilometres. 

"So, yeah, it was a super hard day, so I'm really thankful of the team, of all the support they gave me all week, and, yeah, I think we can all be super super proud of the performance we did this week," he said when met after the race, today.

He finished with a comfortable 26 second cushion over his closest challenger, Abel Balderstone Roumens of Caja Rural Seguros RGA while Balderstone’s teammate Jan Castellon Ribalt rounded off the podium in third spot, 42 seconds adrift.

Adding gloss to his triumphant week, Lennart also wrapped up the tour as the undisputed King of the Mountains, winning the Polka Dot Jersey with 45 points to edge Wheeltop Rotor Chengdu Cycling Team's Petr Rikunov (41 points) and Castellon (26 points).

Reflecting on his maiden ProSeries GC title as a neo pro, Lennart admitted that going all the way to top the podium far exceeded their pre race target of merely chasing a top five finish.

"Yeah, extremely meaningful. I mean it's the first pro GC I'm allowed to win, and also the first time I win a race outside of Italy. So of course the first time out of Europe also. It's something super, super special and it will for sure stay in my mind the rest of my life.

"For sure it changes a lot at least for me, because now I know that I can be a good GC rider. I mean, I hoped for this before but I needed to prove it and now I made a first step into this direction," he added.

Meanwhile, the final 188.3 kilometre Stage Eight was claimed by Italian, Matteo Malucelli of XDS Astana Team who clocked 4:05:17s in a bunch sprint finish to pip Riley Pickrell (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling) and Christiaan Van Rees (Team Picnic PostNL).

Malucelli's stage triumph also cemented his grip on Blue Jersey as the Best Sprinter with 64 points ahead of Pickrell (57 points) and Nil Gimeno Ferrer of Equipo Kern Pharma (22 points).

In the Best Asian Rider category, Japan's Yuhi Todome of Aisan Racing Team claimed the White Jersey after posting an overall time of 29:04:23s.

Meanwhile, Tsen Ren Bao of St George Continental Cycling Team emerged as the best Malaysian rider, finishing 25th in the overall General Classification (+11:05s) and taking second place in the Asian rider standings.

-- BERNAMA