Argentine Maximiliano Richeze earned an impressive win at the end of the second stage of the Tour de Langkawi on Saturday, edging out a hard-charging field at the end of a 166-kilometer stage between the Malaysian cities of Kangar and Kulim.

Richeze, who along with his Ceramiche Panaria teammate, Ruben Bongiorno, were pipped at the end of Friday’s opening stage by Italian Alberto Loddo (Selle Italia), fought hard in the final 250 meters to fend off a big group of strong sprinters, earning both the checkered flag and the overall leader’s jersey.

Saturday’s win was Richeze’s second stage win at Langkawi following his success in the opening stage in Rawang last year.

“I'm extremely happy to win here. I feel very much attached to this race and this country. It's a very nice race that brings me a lot of luck,” said Richeze. “I came to Malaysia for the first time last year and was fortunate to win Stage 1. That gave me the yellow jersey for two days and I climbed the Cameron Highlands with it, which I'll be doing again tomorrow.”

The Argentine however, expects to lose the yellow jersey on Sunday in the difficult climb up the holiday resort.

“I expect to lose it as I did there last year, because I'm not a climber,” said Richeze, who completed the 166km long stage in 3 hours 55 minutes and 41 seconds.

Rolling in second was South Africa’s Daryl Impey while first day winner, Loddo had to settle for the third spot. South Korea’s Park Sung Baek did well to finish in fourth, earning the distinction as the top Asian finisher of the day.

While the top jersey changed hands Saturday, Japan’s Koji Fukushima managed to hang on to the leader’s colors in the Asian category. He also remains the leader in the King of the Mountain category.

On Saturday’s stage, flagged off in the northern town of Kangar, Japanese riders were active very early but instead of Fukushima, it was Yukiya Arashiro and Yoshiyuki Abe, along with Malaysian Safwan Sawai, who broke away. The bunch reacted strongly and soon another breakaway was launched by one of the favorites, Jose Sherpa from Selle Italia and Tour de France hero Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom).

Throughout the race, which was run under stifling conditions, there were several other significant attacks by Sergey Kolesnikov, Shinichi Fukushima and Malaysian Loh Sea Keong. The last attack saw the Fukushima brothers, together with Kolesnikov, move ahead of the field, but the trio was reeled some 3km from the end.

After missing out on a first-stage, the Panarias were clearly prepared for any late challenges and deservingly claimed the victory.

“We begun the second stage with a strong intention of winning,” said Richeze. “It was either Bongiorno or me. We learned from yesterday's mistake and didn't want to finish second and third again. So we decided that only one of us would sprint for the win. With 2km to go, Bongiorno said he wasn't feeling good, so I'd be the sprinter. It worked out well. I went out with 250 meters to go and never looked back.”

Sunday’s third stage will cover 133km from Kuala Kangsar to Cameron Highlands.