The Petronas Tour de Langkawi (open in new tab) approached the halfway point and race leader Ivan Sosa (Movistar) was back for his first day in the yellow jersey on stage 4 after winning the crucial Genting Highlands stage.

The British rider is 23 seconds behind Sosa in the overall standings, with a huge two-minute gap between him and the two other riders who finished first and second on the steep slopes of stage 3.

"There are still five stages to go," Kersee told Cycling News in the humidity and heat of the small town of Sabac-Bernam before the afternoon start of stage four. 'There are still five stages left. Let's see what happens in the next few days."

In this flat stage, won by Jakub Maleczko (Alpecin-Deceuninck), the top 10, 6, and 4 second time bonuses were always given to sprinters. In addition, the breakaway group also totaled the intermediate sprint bonuses, each of 3 seconds each, won by Jean-Barjamz Sainbayar (Trenggane Polygon Cycling).

This pattern of bonuses being absorbed by either the breakaway or the sprinters will continue for most of the remaining stages, with one important exception, Kersee expects.

"There's a bonus sprint, but at the finish, the time is actually there. So we'll probably have to wait until stage 7."

The Genting Highlands is a queen stage with a double-hit uphill climb at the finish, and historically, the rider who wins there goes on to win the overall. Kersee is hoping that the 90.8-km route of stage 7 will provide the perfect opportunity.

The final stage of the race on Monday may be short, but the course spirals from Langkawi to Gunung Raya, climbing more than 800 meters in the remaining 13 km, with a 15% gradient in the final 300 meters providing the final sting.

Kersee said, "It's a proper climb and it's a short stage, so you should be able to give it your all without any fatigue. 'In this heat, it could be a bad day, it could be a good day. It could be a good day. But we'll see what happens."

Whatever it is, there could be a yellow jersey on it.