Finally! Max Poole shines as he capitalizes on Vuelta form to out-sprint everyone in Langkawi

In the more than 170-kilometer stage to the Cameron Highlands, two mountain passes had to be conquered. The first of these, along with one in the final phase, was categorized as hors catégorie. While the gradients weren't particularly steep, the climbs were long and grueling. EF Education-EasyPost took control of the race, with riders like Hugh Carthy and former winner Simon Carr working for Sean Quinn. A Spaniard, Mario Aparicio from Burgos-BH, rode solo in the final phase with a one-minute lead over the peloton.

The last climb was eight kilometers long and would determine whether we would have a solo winner or perhaps a sprint finish among a small group. The group indeed remained small, as the back door of the peloton was wide open. dsm-firmenich PostNL took the lead to rein in the Spaniard, alongside the efforts of EF. However, Aparicio's story ended fourteen kilometers from the finish.

A new attack came from the Equipo Kern Pharma camp. Jorge Gutierrez broke away, initially without a response. Quinn and Max Poole were alert and accelerated just a few minutes later. The latter powered through, and only a duo from Astana could keep up: Harold Martin Lopez and Anton Charmig. From the top of the final climb, it was mostly a gradual descent. The trio had a fifteen-second lead over a slightly larger group of climbers.

Would it be a sprint with three, or would the men from behind catch up? Up front, there was good cooperation, with the Astana riders obviously having the advantage. But it didn’t come to that. The pursuers closed the gap! About ten riders raced together toward the finish, but any escape attempts were unsuccessful. In the sprint, Kern Pharma tried to leverage their numbers, but Poole was simply in a league of his own. He took over, never relinquished the lead, and clearly proved to be the strongest. After a successful Vuelta, he finally claimed victory in Asia.