With the overall leaders already focused on Saturday’s crucial time-trial stage that will decided the podium in this year’s Tour de Langkawi, the sprinters were expected to fight out the shortest road stage on Friday. Instead, the rain came tumbling down on a hot, muggy afternoon and French opportunist Sébastien Hinault gave Crédit Agricole its second stage win of the 10-day race.

Stage 8 from Yong Peng to Segamat was only 72.7km long, and though an eight-man break forced a 90-second lead with 30km to go, the pack led by Spanish outfit Relax-Gam closed things down as they hit the outskirts of Segamat 6km out.

Most active at the front were the two British teams, still in search of a stage win, and the Wiesenhof-Akud squad of points leader Steffen Radochla of Germany. But the finish was not one that favored a flat-out field sprint.

The final kilometer featured a long right curve, followed by a sharp right and two left turns before a 300-meter uphill to the line. It was a finish that Hinault, who has great bike-handling skills and a handy kick, had had his eyes on all race long.

“I like it a lot when it rains,” he said. “We already studied the finish and knew it would be tricky with twisting and winding roads. And when we got there I knew it would be dangerous on wet roads. I knew I had to be at the front to stay out of danger.”

Also fancying his chances was Great Britain national team rider Mark Cavendish, who appeared better placed than Hinault entering the last two turns. The 20-year-old Brit, who last year won a gold medal in the Madison at the track world’s in Los Angeles and was 14th in the under-23 road race at the Madrid world’s, was sharp from a couple of six-day races this winter. But his foot slipped from the pedal with 400 meters to go, and though he clicked back in, his desperate uphill chase left him about 10 lengths back of the jubilant Hinault.

This was the fifth opportunist win scored by the 31-year-old Hinault (no relation to the five-time Tour de France) in the past four years after going winless in his first five seasons as a pro.

With all but a dozen of the 104 riders finishing in the same time as Hinault, there were no major changes on GC, with South African David George going into Saturday’s TT with a 1:57 lead on Gabriel Missaglia of Selle Italia — whose runner-up spot is threatened by Crédit Agricole’s Francesco Bellotti, Selle Italia’s Walter Pedraza and Navigators Insurance’s Cesar Grajales, who are all within 23 seconds of Missaglia.

The 16.2km TT at the coastal town of Melaka is completely flat, but features a half-dozen sharp turns on a panhandle-shaped course that has a clockwise loop. The favorite for the stage win is Colombian sensation José Serpa, the winner of two stages this week, who took the time-trial stage of last month’s Vuelta a Tachira in Venezuela prior to signing a pro contract with the Selle Italia team.Results - Stage 8 - Yong Peng to Segamat
1. Hinault, Sébastien (FRA), Credit Agricole 1h33:33
2. Cavendish, Mark (GBR), Great Britain
3. Marzoli, Samuele (ITA), LPR
4. Missaglia, Gabriele (ITA), Selle Italia Diquigiovanni
5. Suhardi, Hassan (MAS), Malaysia
6. Pütsep, Erki (EST), Ag2r Prevoyance
7. Beuchat, Roger (SUI), LPR
8. Ravard, Anthony (FRA), Bouygues Telecom
9. Gene, Yohann (FRA), Bouygues Telecom
10. Radochla, Steffen (GER), Wiesenhof Akud 
FullResultsOVERALL
1. George, David (RSA), South Africa
2. Missaglia, Gabriele (ITA), Selle Italia Diquigiovanni , at 01:57
3. Bellotti, Francesco (ITA), Credit Agricole , at 02:19
4. Pedraza, Walter (COL), Selle Italia Diquigiovanni = s/t
5. Grajales, Cesar (COL), Navigators Insurance , at 02:20
6. Sharman, Robin (GBR), Recyling.Co.Uk , at 04:20
7. Elias Galindo, Jose (ESP), Relax-Gam , at 04:23
8. Serpa, José (COL), Selle Italia Diquigiovanni , at 04:44
9. Lefevre, Laurent (FRA), Bouygues Telecom , at 04:54
10. Poilvet, Benoit (FRA), Credit Agricole , at 05:42
11. Raisin, Saul (USA), Credit Agricole , at 07:49 
FullResults