Winners of respective colours of jersey, from left: Anuar Manan (Blue), Nino Corredor (Yellow), Jonnatha Monsalve (Red) & Rahim Emani (White). Pic: Shahrizan Jeffri AzizPUTRAJAYA, Jan 28 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's continental team rider, Anuar Manan grabbed the blue jersey as the current point competition leader when he topped the leaderboard after stage six of 2011 Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) Friday.
The Terengganu Pro Asia Cycling cyclist accumulated 70 points, one point ahead of Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli rider, Andrea Guardini, who won the jersey since stage one in Langkawi.
Russia's Boris Shpilevsky of Tabriz Petrochemical Team is in third position with 35 points.
In Friday's stage six from Rawang to Putrajaya which covers a distance of 106.7km, Guardini claimed his third stage win and denied Anuar a chance of winning his first stage.
"I have not reached my target yet but I have won the blue jersey. I thank my teammate who worked hard for the win.
"I want to keep the blue jersey until the end. I will try to win at least a stage. Today is my second time in second position ... I'm not happy. I will try again tomorrow," said the 25-year-old rider who hails from Kuala Ibai, Terengganu.
In Friday's race, Anuar crossed the finishing line with a bunch of riders clocking an identical time with the leader -- two hours, 14 minutes and 59 seconds.
The first time Anuar missed the chance of clinching his first stage win was in Sitiawan (Stage 3) when Germany's Marcel Kittel of Skil Shimano Cycling Team won the race and Anuar settled for the second position.
Guardini described his third stage win as a very tough and challenging.
"I am very happy anyway to win the stage today, although I have lost the point jersey. It's a great achievement to get three stage win.
"Anuar is extremely determine to win this classification. There's only one point gap between us but I'm fine with it," said Guardini.
Colombian rider Libardo Nino Corredor of Le Tua Cycling Team retained the yellow jersey which he won Thursday at Genting Highlands.
"This has been a fastest stage with many attacks to break away. The race started very fast from the start. My teammate told me about the course up till the end and that's how I kept my yellow jersey today," he said.
Venezuela's Jonnatha Monsalve of Andrioni Giocattoli and Iran's Rahim Emami of Azad University Cycling Team retained the red jersey and white jersey, respectively.
The riders of Azad University Cycling Team currently topped the team general classification and Asian team overall competition after accumulating 54'48:30s after six stages.
Saturday's Stage 7 from Banting to Tampin (149.5km) begins on a coastal route in Banting, offers another chance for the sprinters and mountain climbers to collect points.
There are three sprint zones -- at Sungai Pelek, Port Dickson and Chembong -- and two climbs at Bukit Pelandok and Linggi.
-- BERNAMA
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