Tour de Langkawi - Stage 9
Pavel Brutt - first victory for Tinkoff Credit Systems. Anthony Charteau has a "lock" on the Maillot Jaune and tour victory.  Report and Photos

Pavel Brutt from the Tinkoff Credit Systems team took the 173.1km stage for what was the first ever stage victory for Tinkoff Credit Systems team. The Russian rider joined an early break of 13 that was reduced to three as they neared the finish with the Credit Agricole only seconds behind. Brutt attacked inside the last kilometer and denied his countryman Unibet's Sergey Kolesnikov for second and France's  Pierre Drancourt of Équipe Bouygues Telecom.

Pavel Brutt celebrates first victory for squad Tinkoff at Serambam.
Photo c. Tour de Langkawi

“I'm very happy to give Tinkoff their first win - I sprinted 800 meters from the line,” said Brutt. “In terms of difficulty of between one to ten, I would give the race today a nine.”

Unibet's Sergey Kolesnikov and Pierre Drancourt (Bouygues) sprint to the finish with the peloton at their heels. photo c. Bruno Bade

Charteau on track for tour win
Current yellow jersey holder Anthony Charteau is well on the way to winning the Le Tour de Langkawi 2007 individual title this year following a tactical ride from Putrajaya to Seremban on stage nine today.

Although the Frenchman was up against the winding road of Kuala Klawang, he kept up with the leaders through the several climbs of Bukit Tangga, Lenggeng and Bukit Mantin to maintain his more than one minute lead over his nearest challengers. “We had a team of good riders today and even though I was in the front pack, the stage was actually a lot harder than it looked,” said Charteau. “I have a good lead and although some had said that the heat was a problem, I love the heat so I felt really good in the last several kilometres.

“The tactic was to keep the boys from Serramenti close, so we were not too bothered when the Tinkoff rider took off. It should not be a problem to retain my lead tomorrow as I think that the Kuala Lumpur Criterium is more for spectacle than an actual GC race.”

As expected, stage nine did provide some semblance of a challenge to the riders after the punishing climb up Genting yesterday with more than ten riders making the early break which included Brutt, Thomas Voeckler (Equipe Bouyges Telecom), Tiann Kannemeyer (South Africa), Park Sung-baek (South Korea) and also two other new Russian riders Serguie Klimov (Tinkoff) and Sergey Kolesnikov (Unibet.com).

Credite Agricole leads the chase to protect Charteau's jersey.
photo c. Bruno Bade

With more than a minute gap the peloton led by Credit Agricole worked to reduce the gap, but an attack at the start of the first climb with protagonist's Luis Pasamontes (Unibet.com), Jose Rujano (Unibet.com), David George (South Africa), Jose Serpa (Serramenti) and Salvatore Commesso (Tinkoff).

Thomas Voekler  and Anthony Charteau lead the yellow jersey group.
Photo c. Bruno Bade

After Jeram Toi, the breakaway group was left with just three riders of Brutt, Kolesnikov and George as the others dropped off to rejoin the fast approaching peloton. They were later joined by Drancourt before Rujano and Pasamontes rode up to give Unibet.com control of the breakaway group as they approached the second climb at Lenggeng.

The yellow jersey group again organised the chase, their efforts were rewarded as the gap came down to under a minute as they neared the final kilometers. Charteau could count himself one step closer to his dream of being the first Le Tour de France rider to win Le Tour de Langkawi since the Mapei years (in 2001).

After stage nine today, Walter Pedraza (Serramenti) is still in the red polka dot shirt for the King of the Mountains Classification, Ghader Mizbani (Giant AIS) in the blue for the best Asian rider and Alberto Loddo (Serramenti) in the green for the sprints classification heading into the ultimate race of LTDL 2007 which is the traditional Kuala Lumpur Criterium.

Alberto Loddo attempts to tie tour record
“I will try to win the Kuala Lumpur Criterium tomorrow but even if I could not, I will be happy if I can win the green jersey,” added Loddo. If he does Loddo will tie the record of 5 stage wins of the Tour record set by Aussie sprinter Graeme Brown in the 2005 tour in Panaria colours.

Current Jersey Leaders
Yellow (Tour Leader) - Anthony Charteau (Fra) Credit Agricole
Green (Sprint Competition) - Alberto Loddo (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni
Polka Dot (King of the mountains) - Anthony Charteau (Fra) Credit Agricole
Blue (Asian rider) – Shinichi Fukushima (Jap) Nippo-Meitan Hompo

Stage 9 Results
Putrajaya to Seremban – 173.1km
1. Pavel Brutt (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 4h07'08"
2. Sergey Kolesnikov (Rus) Unibet.com 4h07'11"
3. Pierre Drancourt (Fra) Équipe Bouygues Telecom 4h07'11"
4. David George (Rsa) South Africa 4h07'11"
5. Luis Pasamontes (Esp) Unibet.com 4h07'13"
6. Jose Rujano (Ven) Unibet.com 4h07'18"
7. Daryl Impey (Rsa) South Africa 4h07'42"
8. Gene Bates (Aus) SouthAustralia.com 4h07'42"
9. Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems 4h07'42"
10. Park Sung-baek (Kor) Korea National Team 4h07'42"

General Classification after Stage 9
1. Anthony Charteau (Fra) Crédit Agricole 30h50'19"
2. Jose Serpa (Col) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni 30h51'21"
3. Walter Pedraza (Col) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni 30h51'53"
4. David George (Rsa) South Africa 30h53'25"
5. Jay Crawford (Aus) Giant Asia Racing Team 30h54'24"
6. Ghader Mizbani (Iran) Giant Asia Racing Team 30h54'33"
7. Pavel Brutt (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 30h54'40"
8. Yokihiro Doi (Jpn) Skil Shimano 30h55'02"
9. Luis Pasamontes (Esp) Unibet.com 30h55'12"
10. Hossein Askari (Iran) Giant Asia Racing Team 30h55'13"

The Le Tour de Langkawi 2007 is organized by the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) with the support of the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Tourism.