Technical stop vs transfer

I've already booked London to Kuala Lumpur for 13th July but I didn't realise until after purchase that the "transfer" in Bahrain was actually a technical stop, meaning 2 hours remaining on the plane and a total flight time of 16.5 hours, while I'd prefer splitting up the flight with a couple hours off the plane.

I can see there's a flight available London Stansted to Milan to Abu Dhabi to KUL, max flight time 7h 20, or a flight from London Gatwick to Bahrain to KUL, max flight time 8h.

But how do I know before purchase whether a transfer is a "technical stop" or actual time off the plane?

Provided I arrive in KL on 14th July, I don't mind departing UK earlier than 13th July (meaning I don't mind getting to somewhere else in UK/Europe then flying to Malaysia). I just don't want to be paying the *highest* prices.