FRASER’S HILL: Total Energies’ Joris Delbova sprang a surprise by conquering Stage Five of the Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL), which ended at the peak of Fraser’s Hill on Thursday (Oct 2).

Delbova completed the 123.1km stage from Temerloh in 3'00:25s, also earning a 10-second bonus as the first rider to cross the finish line.

Anders Halland Johannessen of Uno X-Mobility finished second, followed by Yannis Voisard of Tudor Pro Cycling Team in third.

"We came here aiming to win the overall title, especially this stage. We were ambitious, but at the same time realistic because the competition was really tough.

"That was our goal, but I knew achieving it wouldn’t be easy. Still, I managed to pull it off, and I’m really, really happy. Now, we’ll see what comes next,” said Delbova.

To make his triumph even sweeter, Delbova also seized the green jersey as the new overall leader, taking over from previous holder Matteo Malucelli.

However, Malucelli can still breathe easy as he managed to retain the orange jersey as the points classification leader with 57 points.

There was no change in the polka-dot jersey, with Team Picnic PostNL’s Patrick Eddy still holding on to the King of the Mountains title.

Meanwhile, the white jersey for the best Asian rider changed hands, with XDS Astana’s Nicolya Vinokurov emerging as the new leader.