The participants of the Langkawi International Mountain Bike Challenge can expect a tough, technically demanding but also cool lap on the fourth stage, as Fabian Giger describes it. He is also the one who puts his stamp on the penultimate race of the Challenge. The world number three also pushed the pace right from the start, but without success. His closest rivals for the overall victory, Karl Platt and Michal Lami, don't let him go easily. From then on, Giger concentrated on winning the day. "I felt really good today. Unfortunately, the race was too short to make up much time in the overall classification," says Giger and adds: "If you want to win the overall race, a lot of things have to come together. Cramps and defects like at the start just don't fit in."

After his second place, the Slovakian Michal Lami can now wear the leader's jersey. He now leads by around a minute ahead of Karl Platt (GER). Fabian Giger remains third. In order to become the overall winner, a small miracle would have to happen in the beach race of the final stage. Third place on the stage goes to Sebastian Fini Carstensen from Denmark, who has nothing to do with the outcome of the overall classification.

Nicola Rohrbach's declared goal, the top 5, is also a long way off. Although he achieved a good result with his fourth place, he failed to make a big leap in the overall standings. "Unfortunately, I lacked the final kick to ride onto the podium today. At least I was able to improve to sixth intermediate place." Right behind Rohrbach was Karl Platt in fifth place, who is now second overall.Daniel Eymann got off to another good start. However, things didn't go smoothly on the fourth stage either and he suffered a puncture on the first climb. "After I pushed a cartridge of foam into the tire, I was able to ride one lap, then unfortunately I had to change the wheel. I was then alone on each of the catch-ups, which cost me a lot of energy," explained Eymann, who nevertheless finished the stage in 13th place.

Lechner in second place - Schneitter in fourth
In the women's race, the overall victory is practically a foregone conclusion. South Tyrolean Eva Lechner also won the fourth stage of the Langkawi International Mountain Bike Challenge. As a result, she goes into the final stage with a substantial ten-minute cushion. Tanja Zakelj (SLO), who finished second overall, is unlikely to make up this cushion in the final beach race over 30 minutes.

Blaza Klemencic (SLO), who lost her leader's jersey the day before due to a puncture, finished second in the penultimate stage and is out of the race for overall victory with her additional 1:28-minute deficit on the day. Nathalie Schneitter gives it her all on the cross-country stage, but once again fails to make it onto the podium. "Fourth again today! It went well, but the three world-class riders were just a tad faster. I'm still satisfied," said Schneitter for the record.

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