The riders arrived in Kuala Lumpur in the early afternoon, but the race is not over yet. The riders travel downtown for a four-kilometer epilogue to settle the GC. One can fill in Kemboi as winner with pencil there, but behind him everything is open. For the specialists over the short distance, it is the last chance to leave this race with a happy face.
Mottin is the third starter and comfortably beats Natarov and Bakari. 4'39 is the benchmark.
Burke right behind him, three seconds slower.
Predatsch is next and he loses out by one second.
The eighth starter is Gonzalez Salas, and brings the fastest time down to 4'33.
Empty stands due to corona measures, otherwise there'd be millions of Schomber fans. Eight seconds slower than Gonzalez Salas is a huge disappointment, only fourth out of eleven starters.
Atkins comes closest to the leading time, but still concedes five seconds.
Kittel cannot match his teammate's time and has to settle for third for now.
Balloni goes to virtual seventh place at nine seconds.
But his teammate Fiedler does much better, and beats Gonzalez Salas by a second for the hot seat.
Golovash sets the same time as Atkins, but falls outside the virtual podium on milliseconds.
Van Niekerk and Postlberger fail to make the current top ten and will be pushed down much more.
Cataford sacrificed his GC to help Nelson get ninth place on stage two. His race also ends in disappointment as he just makes the top ten now, losing ten seconds.
Nareklishvili finishes at eight seconds and pushes the Canadian out of the top ten. Seventh place for the Georgian.
His teammate Ahmad Zamri hoped to get more out of his home race. With his current seventeenth time he might enter the GC top 40, but that isn't satisfactory.
Sterobo also doesn't live up to expectations, seventeen seconds down on Fiedler isn't even provisional top twenty material.
Pszczolarski does crack into the top ten, + 8.
Paillot might have been expected higher in the GC heading into the stage. He will definitely gain places with his third time at three seconds, but much more than 35th seems impossible.
Scully goes to fourth, two seconds slower than Paillot and hence saves his GC position against him.
Silvestre won the opening stage but should be lucky if he makes it into the top twenty this time, currently + 10 and fifteenth.
Intxausti went into the race as algorithmic favorite but the algorithm turns out to be wrong. A decent epilogue (4'40, + 8) might see him gain some places.
Bazhkou must be kicking himself for just losing contact yesterday. Nothing wrong about his performance today, seventh in the rankings at six seconds, but he is fighting over a top 25 overall instead of top ten.
Sergent posts the same time as Bazhkou and since he lost a few less seconds yesterday, he assumes the virtual GC lead as we head to the final 27 riders, all who finished in the front two groups yesterday.
Landa had seven seconds and loses much more than that to drop to third, between Bazhkou and Intxausti.
Mutsumine loses a bit less and only sees Sergent past.
Guerreiro on the other hand finishes twelfth-from bottom on the stage and falls behind Sergent, Mutsumine and Bazhkou.
Kebede can lose twenty seconds to Sergent and only loses nineteen. Virtual GC leader by one second.
Piccoli was in the same time as Kebede but performs this epilogue 26 seconds slower. He loses out on the first four.
Thiery had a three-second buffer to Kebede but can't maintain it. He also falls behind Sergent but is safe to Mutsumine.
Panayotov completes the four kilometer in 4'57, which happens to be the same time as Kebede. As he was five seconds ahead in the GC, that gap stays on the board and he claims virtual yellow.
Minguez Ayala is eleven seconds slower than Panayotov on the stage. Subtracting his two-second lead in the GC means he is nine seconds behind in the GC, falling behind Kebede and Sergent as well.
Houle beats Panayotov on the stage by two seconds which means he leads the GC by five. With eighteen riders left, both are assured of a GC top twenty.
Carpenter had a second over Houle but loses two too many. Second for now.
Diggle beats Houle's stage time by five seconds, thus leading the GC by six seconds.
Kanepejs is even two seconds faster than the Brit, meaning his stint in virtual yellow was very short.
Durasek + 3 to Kanepejs. Therefore, he falls behind him in the GC but does hold off teammate Diggle by a single second.
Ackermann two seconds slower than Durasek with disastrous consequences, losing three positions in the GC.
Lienhard loses a second to Kanepejs, which is exactly the advantage he had in the GC. What does the jury decide? Lienhard is the new leader!
But not for long as Debesay posts the 28th time on the stage, three seconds faster than the flash leader
The yellow jersey changes hands rapidly. Nepomnyachsniy with the fifteenth time of today (+ 9 to Fiedler) and five seconds faster than Debesay, leading by six!
Dees is only a second slower and places twentieth, but does not get the jersey as the Kazakh beats him on milliseconds.
Nine to go, Konig next. 4'46 is not good enough, only third so far meaning his top ten is in danger.
Groselj posts the same time as Konig, so stays ahead of him, but he also falls down two places. He is assured of a top ten already.
Dunbar went for the youth classification but, despite wearing white today, won't win it as there was one supreme rider who beat him too it. 23rd for now on the stage (+ 11) as he joins Nepomnyachsniy and Dees at the top of the GC, but a quick smile to the jury and he becomes virtual leader.
Teammate Zmorka surprised friends and enemies by finishing in the second group yesterday. As expected he takes the GC lead, but he also takes the stage lead, beating Fiedler by a second!
Di Maggio finishes 75th. It drops him behind the Zmorka, Dunbar, Nepomnyachsniy, Dees, Groselj, Konig, Debesay, Lienhard, Kanepejs, Durasek, (now outside the top ten), Diggle, and even Ackermann. Thirteenth amongst the finishers, likely to be pushed down to seventeenth once everyone has finished. Unofrutante but to be expected.
Turgis is the first of three Farfetch riders. Unsurprisingly he is more than ten seconds slower than Zmorka, but has enough of an advantage to hold on to second.
Bettiol was on the same time as his teammate but is two seconds slower today, hence third when it comes to the GC.
While the previous two weren't stars, Dowsett is expected to do worse. He could lose 23 seconds to Dunbar in fourth, and he goes through the eye of the needle by the smallest of margins. He drops off the podium but will make it to fifth.
That Salem Kemboi wins the GC, points and youth classification was pretty much clear, but he could further put his signature on this race by winning the final stage. Four minutes and thirty seconds, he does it! A second stage win for the young Kenyan!
Salem Kemboi takes his second stage win, beating Zmorka by a second and Fiedler by two. Gonzalez Salas fourth, Paillot fifth, Scully sixth, Atkins seventh, Golovash eighth, Bazhkou ninth and Sergent tenth.
In the GC, Salem Kemboi wins by 29 seconds over Zmorka. Turgis is the second Farfetch rider on the podium, taking third place ahead of the third Farfetch rider: Bettiol. Dowsett fifth, Dunbar sixth, Nepomnyachsniy seventh, Dees eighth, Groselj ninth and Konig tenth.
The points classification is won by... Salem Kemboi. Number two is... Zmorka. Name a more iconic duo. Silvestre third due to his stage win.
The title King of the Mountains does not go to Kemboi, which surely keeps him up at night. The title instead goes to Jacopo Mosca, with Fiorelli and Thurau tied for second.
Salem Kemboi walks up the stairs for the fourth time to receive the white jersey for the young rider classification. Dunbar and Kanepejs join him on the podium.
Given their performances it should be no surprise Farfetch Pro Cycling wins the teams classification. Popo4Ever claims second place and GCN Racing third.
