Simon Carr dedicates his Langkawi stage win to his passed away grandfather: "He was my biggest fan. This victory is for him"

Simon Carr was the big winner today in the Tour de Langkawi. The British climber with French roots convincingly won the queen stage to Genting Highlands and can now also call himself the new leader in the general classification.

So it is a special day for Carr, but not only because of the sporting success. "My grandfather passed away last Monday. He was a very big fan of mine, so I wanted to book this victory for him," the 25-year-old climber said on the website of his team EF Education-EasyPost. "This victory means a lot to me. I was extremely motivated."

Carr proved to have the strongest climbing legs on the final climb (8.8 km at 8.6%) to the luxury resort Genting Highlands and soloed to victory in the final kilometers. His teammate Jefferson Alexander Cepeda completed the EF Education-EasyPost party by crossing the line in second.

The stage winner and new leader spoke highly of his teammates afterwards. "The whole team did a great job. We paced from the bottom of the climb, after which Alexander placed his attack at a perfect time. I immediately noticed that no one could respond anymore. I therefore decided to take the leap forward. I think we raced well."