Ceramica Panaria-Navigare finished one-two in stage 2 of the Tour de Langkawi as the race leader delivered a teammate to the line for the victory.

Argentinian sprinter Ruben Bongiorno won the 164.7km stage from Tanjung Malim to Sitiawan after a leadout from countryman Maximiliano Richeze, the winner of Friday’s first stage, who took second and successfully defended his yellow jersey. Steffen Radochla (Wiesenhof) took third.

"It looked like it was easy but it wasn't," said Bongiorno, who won two stages here last year. "There were plenty of riders who could have won it in there. I started the sprint rather early, with about 250 meters to go, but luckily I was able to do enough to keep at the front."

Saturday's stage was marked by another long break, this one by Koji Fukushima (Japan) and Albert Primero (Casino Filipino), who took off 30km into the race and built a seven-minute lead only to be retrieved in the final miles as Wiesenhof and Bouygues Telecom led the chase.

With just 25km to go and the bunch just one minute behind, Kazakh Yevgeniy Yakovlev (Equipe Asia) bridged to the lead duo. But the trio was absorbed, Ceramica Panaria-Navigare massed at the front and Bongiorno got a perfect leadout to take the win from his countryman and Radochia, who retained the blue jersey as leader of the sprint competition.

Malaysia's Tour de Langkawi, Asia's biggest cycling race, has attracted 20 world-class teams from Asia, Europe and America, the organizers said. The 1.6 million-ringgit ($424,000) event, the richest in the region, is celebrating its 11th anniversary. The 10-stage race began Friday in Kuala Lumpur and ends February 12 in the capital.

Results - Stage 2
1. Bongiorno, Ruben (ARG), Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 3:59:24
2. Richeze, Maximiliano (ARG), Ceramica Panaria-Navigare
3. Radochla, Steffen (G), Wiesenhof Akud
4. Cavendish, Mark (GB), Great Britain
5. Meirhaeghe, Filip (B), Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
6. Marzoli, Samuele (I), LPR
7. Habeaux, Gregory (B), Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
8. Ravard, Anthony (F), Bouygues Telecom
9. Miyazawa, Takashi (JP), Japan
10. Missaglia, Gabriele (I), Selle Italia Diquigiovanni