KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian cycling team has set its sights on a podium finish for all categories at the upcoming 2022 Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) between October 11 and 18.
In a statement, the team’s head coach Mohd Yusof Nasir said the cyclists have been urged to take advantage of this opportunity to prove their worth and capabilities in challenging top professionals in the peloton.
He said the national team, as the sole group representing Malaysia, must be alert, active, and aggressive.
“I have full confidence that those selected to ride in this year’s Tour have been preparing well, but limited to competing in local races only. The focus now is to ensure their fitness and endurance leading up to race day,” he said.
“I do not want them to think that their participation in the race is just to make up the numbers, but also to make an impact,” he said.
Yusof added that the Malaysian national road squad competed in two international races this year, the Tour of Thailand in April and the SEA Games in Vietnam in May.
Riders currently undergoing training include Nik Mohd Azwan Zulkiflie, Sofian Nabil Omar Bakri, twin brothers Muhammad Ameer and Muhammad Ameen Ahmad Kamal, Mohamad Izzat Hilmi Abdul Halil, and youngster Kee Zha Yie.
Meanwhile, Ariff Danial Noor Roseibi and Norhasmat Abdul Aziz have been named as reserves.
The riders have been trained by assistant coach Amir Mustapha, who had recently had a stint with the Selangor cycling team in the 20th Malaysia Games (Sukma).
The 2022 LTdL is tipped to be among the most competitive editions for the series, with the presence of six World Team outfits consisting of UAE Team Emirates (UAE), Cofidis (France), Lotto Soudal (Belgium), EF Education EasyPost (USA), Movistar (Spain), and Astana-Qazaqstan (Kazakhstan).
Four Pro Continental teams taking part include Drone Harper-Androni Giocattoli (Italy), Uno X-Pro Cycling (Norway), Alpecin-Deceuninck (Belgium) and Burgos-BH (Spain).
The Continental teams will be made up of 11 outfits, which include two local teams, the Terengganu Polygon Cycling Team and Team Sapura Cycling, two Indonesian-registered teams Mula Cycling Team and Roojai Cycling Team, ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast (Australia), China Glory Continental Cycling Team (China), ProTouch (South Africa), and Kuwait Pro Cycling (Kuwait).
Regional teams include the Thailand Continental Team (Thailand), Team UKYO (Japan), and the 7-Eleven Cliqq Air team (Philippines).
The 2022 LTdL edition was originally scheduled for June 11 to 18 but postponed to October 11 to 18 due to a clash of dates with other cycling championships. – The Vibes, September 28, 2022
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