SKYDIVE TURN UP THE HEAT

Leaders after stage 4, Andrea Palini takes over the Blue jersey from teammate Francisco Mancebo

Adrea Palini wins stage 4

Stage 4 winners

PUTRAJAYA, Saturday 12 December 2015 : Skydive Dubai strengthened their grip on the tour as Andrea Palini notched his first Jelajah Malaysia stage win and teammate Francisco Mancebo maintained a comfortable lead in the general classification in the penultimate stage today.
Palini took the win in two hours, 42 minutes and 29 seconds with Team Hong Kong's Leung Chun Wing and Indonesian Arin Iswana (Pegasus Continental Cycling Team) finishing second and third in the sprint finish.

The Italian said he was delighted to notch the win in a stage he considers to be the toughest so far in the tour. 

The fourth stage saw riders covering 115.3KM. The race started at Berjaya Times Square and passed through hill sections in Ampang, Hulu Langat and Semenyih before ending in Putrajaya.

"It was a very difficult race, we had to work really hard in the beginning and after the climbs," said Palini.

"Towards the end I had two of my teammates with me and they did a great job to help setup for the sprint.

"I am very happy as we have two jerseys now and hopefully we can continue doing well tomorrow."

Palini's win saw him take charge of the blue jersey (points classification) with a total of 26 points. Korean Park Sung Baek (KSPO) and Mancebo are second and third with 25 and 18 points respectively.

Mancebo, who finished the stage in 23rd in the same group as Palini, retained the yellow jersey with a total time of 8:48:53s. Palini moved up to second while Team Hong Kong's Cheung King Lok is third with the duo 1:23s and 1:26s adrift of the Spaniard.

Mancebo said he is optimistic of closing out the win in the final stage tomorrow.

"It was very tough today, everybody attacked but we managed to get the results we wanted," said Mancebo.

"I am happy we could keep up and hopefully we can do the same tomorrow. It is definitely my goal to win the overall title."

With no points on offer in the final stage, Terengganu Cycling Team's (TSG) Nur Amirul Fakhruddin Mazuki secured the overall King of Mountains (red jersey) title after another crossing the line first at the Ampang lookout point, the first KOM point of the day.

Amirul ended the mountains classification tied on 14 points together with Iran's Hamid Beikkhormizi (Pishgaman Giant Team) but was awarded the overall win as he had finished first at more mountain points then the latter.

Aussie Jai Crawford (Kinan Cycling Team) came in third on eight points.

Amirul said: "This is my second red jersey win after Tour of Sharjah and I am very happy as it is the first time I have done it at Jelajah Malaysia."

"At the end it was very close but I believe I won it fairly. It was a really tough competition as the riders from Iran and Philippines are very strong."

The fifth and final stage of Jelajah Malaysia will see riders starting at the Proton Centre of Excellence in Shah Alam and ending at Dataran Merdeka, covering a total distance of 47KM.

The Jelajah Malaysia 2015 is held from 9th to 13th December and is a UCI sanctioned 2.2 class race, organised by the Malaysian National Cycling Federation and managed by Peloton Resources.