PANDAN INDAH — Josh Burnett turned a doubtful start into a stage podium at Le Tour de Langkawi, finishing second on Thursday's final mountain stage to the Genting Highlands hors catégorie climb and vaulting ten spots to seventh overall just days after overnight elbow surgery. Nicolas Breuillard won the stage for TotalEnergies, eight seconds ahead of Burnett, while race leader Lennart Jasch (Tudor Pro Cycling) finished third, 13 seconds behind Burnett, to retain the overall lead.
"Two days before the race, a car pulled out on us, and I had to have overnight surgery to repair my elbow. So yeah, for me, being on the start line was a bit of a bonus, so then to do what I did yesterday…" Burnett told Cyclingnews on Friday at the start of stage 6 in Pandan Indah. "To move up into seventh overall and take second on such a cool stage is amazing, and everyone saw the crowds up there. It was pretty epic to be at the front of that." The New Zealander, riding for Burgos Burpellet-BH, said the midnight surgery for a severe cleaning of the wound took a toll in the early stages, though he had earmarked stage 5 as an opportunity before arriving in Malaysia.
The break was not the initial plan, but with it taking time to establish and strong riders persisting, Burnett and teammate Rodrigo Alvarez joined the move alongside TotalEnergies duo Nicolas Breuillard and Valentin Retailleau, giving the group horsepower. "Initially, I was a bit hesitant when I was in there, but when the gap started going out, I started to believe slowly and slowly a bit more," Burnett said. With five minutes advantage at the bottom of the climb, Burnett — 17th at 3:20 behind Jasch at the start of the day — was virtual leader on the road. The climb then pared the break to just Breuillard and Burnett, with Burnett doing much of the work with both the stage and overall in mind until Breuillard accelerated at 2.6km to go.
"Honestly, I felt really good and maybe a bit stronger but I had to ride for the GC, so I did most of the work, and then I just kind of cramped when he went. I knew if I tried to follow it would have been both legs that would have stopped working," Burnett said. "The cramps kind of went away, and I maybe closed it a few seconds, but obviously I never really got that close but I tried and TotalEnergies worked just as hard as us so they deserved it as well." While not threatening Jasch's lead, the ride reshuffled the top 10. "Obviously, when you're here, you want a bit more, but when you look at it objectively, I think it's pretty good for sure," Burnett said, before underlining that appetite by trying to make the break again on stage 6.