Japan’s Shinichi Fukusima proved that persistence and hard work are the key to success as he became the first Asian to win a stage in this year’s Tour de Langkawi following a strong 174km ride from Kuantan to Karak.

The stage win for the rider from the Nippo-Meitan Hompo team was only the third stage victory for an Asian rider in the 12-year history of the tour, following wins by Wong Kam Po in 2000 and Koji – the younger brother of Shinichi – Fukushima in 2005.

Apart from taking the stage win, Shinichi has also overtaken the blue jersey for the best Asian rider from Hossein Askari as well as moving up to second spot in the General Classification (GC) behind current leader Anthony Charteau (Crédit Agricole).

“I am very satisfied with the win today because I felt excellent at the start and when the rider from Tinkoff (Elia Aggiano) gave an indication of an early breakaway we went for it,” said Fukushima, the former champion of Japan.

“We tried to escape yesterday but were caught. But today, I tried harder and even though the others gave up in the closing stages, I pushed and pushed to make sure that I win the race today.”

On being told that he has moved up to second spot on GC, Fukushima was surprised.

Loddo's presence in the break ensured its success

“Really?” he asked. “I didn’t know that. So tomorrow I must climb harder than I’ve ever done before.”

An early breakaway just four minutes after the start saw Alberto Loddo, winner of four stages so far this year, join up with Francesco Tomei, Loh Sea Keong, Lee Won-jae and Fukushima to form a strong lead group.

They were soon joined by Elia Aggiano, Johanne Kachelhoffer, Pierre Drancourt and Yoshiyuki Abe where they opened up a five minute lead just before the town of Maran and then more than seven minutes just after Kampung Kawah.

With Loddo in the mix, the usual scenario – of his Selle Italia squad chasing down escapees to set up their man for the sprint – didn’t play out. Indeed, with less than 50km to go to the finish, the breakaway group held a nice gap, with was still in front to make sure that the peloton did not chip away at their lead with Charteau’s Crédit Agricole team simply monitoring the gap.

A second attack from Shinichi and Jae-won saw a battle forming up front with Loddo joining in the fray. But the Italian sprinter couldn’t stop the inevitable as Shinichi throttled up for the win – just two seconds ahead of Aggiano.

“I just did not have the energy for the last kilometer and I’m really disappointed that I did not win today,” said Loddo, “but I’m glad that we have at least managed to keep the green jersey.”

The jerey holders: Loddo, Fukusima and Charteau

“I suppose with the climb up Genting coming up tomorrow, the climbers in my team have to reserve their energy for it.”

Current tour leader Charteau said that he will be out to make sure that he does not disappoint his team up Genting.

“I have a good lead, so I suppose I will just have to climb hard tomorrow,” added Charteau. “The team has done a super job so I will not allow myself to disappoint them.”