Nil Gimeno snares first professional win at stage 7 of Le Tour de Langkawi to Batu Pahat

There were 109 riders starting the stage in the historic but vibrant location of Melaka, and sadly one of the missing riders, Ronan Auge (Unibet Rose Rockets) was in hospital after crashing on stage 6, with his squad saying that while his condition is currently stable and not life-threatening he was being “kept in a medically induced coma to optimise his treatment”.

After the racing started, Aiman Rosli (Terengganu) was the first rider off the mark, determined to get into the break particularly with the first intermediate sprint at his home town, Tangkak, at 45km into the day of racing. Plenty of others, however, had the same idea.

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There were twists and turns when it came to forming a lead group but by the time the race was 28km in a break of seven had formed which included Mario Aparicio (Burgos Burpellet-BH), Nil Gimeno (Kern Pharma), Santiago Herreño (Bardiani CSF 7 Saber) Adne van Engelen and Kee Zhe Yie of Terengganu, Andrei Stepanov (Wheeltop Rotor Chengdu) and George Matsui (Aisan).

Matsui and Kee fell away, making it a group of five with 2:25 to the peloton at 30km to go and then Herreño was next.

It was a determined chase from behind but they were only making gradual inroads. No matter what torture the XDS-Astana team and Modern Adventure squad were putting themselves through so Matteo Malucelli and Riley Pickrell could face-off in another sprint, it didn’t seem to be enough.

They still had more than a kilometre at 35 seconds to go after working together flawlessly to make sure the break survived for a second time at the 2026 edition of Le Tour de Langkawi.

*Cyclingnews attended Le Tour de Langkawi on an invitation/media package from the race that included travel and accommodation. In line with our editorial standards, our coverage is independent and was not subject to review, approval or influence by the organiser or any sponsor; no favourable coverage was promised or given in return.

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Position

Rider (Country) Team

Time Gap

1

Nil Gimeno Ferrer (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma

3:12:33

2

Mario Aparicio Muñoz (Spa) Burgos Burpellet BH

Row 1 – Cell 2

3

Andrei Stepanov (Rus) Wheeltop Rotor Chengdu Team

Row 2 – Cell 2

4

Adne Willemjan Van Engelen (Ned) Terengganu Cycling Team

Row 3 – Cell 2

5

Riley Pickrell (Can) Modern Adventure Pro Cycling

0:00:33

6

Matteo Malucelli (Ita) XDS Astana Team

Row 5 – Cell 2

7

Christiaan Van Rees (Ned) Team Picnic PostNL

Row 6 – Cell 2

8

Filippo Cettolin (Ita) Bardiani CSF 7 Saber

Row 7 – Cell 2

9

Seppe Van Den Boer (Bel) Tudor Pro Cycling Team

Row 8 – Cell 2

10

Gleb Syritsa (Rus) XDS Astana Team

Row 9 – Cell 2

11

Rory Townsend (Irl) Unibet Rose Rockets

Row 10 – Cell 2

12

Daniel Cavia Sanz (Spa) Burgos Burpellet BH

Row 11 – Cell 2

13

Hijiri Oda (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team

Row 12 – Cell 2

14

Mikel Retegi Goñi (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma

Row 13 – Cell 2

15

Iker Villar Galdeano (Spa) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA

Row 14 – Cell 2

16

Mohamad Izzat Hilmi Abdul Halil (Mas) Malaysia Pro Cycling

Row 15 – Cell 2

17

Aivaras Mikutis (Ltu) Tudor Pro Cycling Team

Row 16 – Cell 2

18

Ade Meisa (Ina) Nusantara Cycling Team

Row 17 – Cell 2

19

Alan Jousseaume (Fra) TotalEnergies

Row 18 – Cell 2

20

Aaron Gate (NZl) XDS Astana Team

Row 19 – Cell 2

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Position

Rider (Country) Team

Time Gap

1

Lennart Jasch (Ger) Tudor Pro Cycling Team U23

24:51:45

2

Abel Balderstone Roumens (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

0:26

3

Jan Castellon Ribalta (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

0:42

4

Jose Manuel Diaz Gallego (Spa) Burgos Burpellet BH

1:20

5

Eivind Broholt Fougner (Nor) Unibet Rose Rockets

1:37

6

Jorge Gutierrez Gonzalez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma

1:55

7

Josh Burnett (NZl) Burgos Burpellet BH

2:56

8

Mathias Bregnhøj (Den) Terengganu Cycling Team

2:58

9

Mathis Le Berre (Fra) Totalenergies

3:25

10

Cedrik Bakke Christophersen (Nor) Unibet Rose Rockets

3:30

11

Kieran Haug (USA) Modern Adventure

4:02

12

Harold Martin Lopez Granizo (Ecu) XDS Astana

4:30

13

Adne Willemjan Van Engelen (Ned) Terengganu Cycling Team

5:29

14

Luca Covili (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber

5:31

15

Robin Donzé (Swi) Tudor Pro Cycling Team

6:06

16

Stefan De Bod (RSA) Modern Adventure

6:14

17

Daniel Whitehouse (GBr) St George Continental Cycling Team

6:45

18

Yuhi Todome (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team

7:21

19

Matthew Peace (GBr) Development Team Picnic Postnl

7:29

20

Sergio Meris (Ita) Unibet Rose Rockets

9:32