Kuala Lumpur—Asia’s No. 1 cycling team Terengganu Cycling Team will be eager to keep up their winning momentum when they open their campaign in the 25th anniversary edition of the Petronas Le Tour de Langkawi on February 7 to 14.
Backed by the prowess of Russian Artem Ovechkin, LTdL 2018 yellow jersey winner alongside the sprint acumen of Mohd Hariff Salleh, the team from the East Coast of Malaysia will be out for more victories as they look to maintain their status as the top team in UCI’s Asian Tour calendar.
And even though TSG has yet to announce its squad for this year’s silver jubilee edition, it is expected that they will be putting up all their best riders in the front line with captain Mohd Zamri Salleh in the lead.
TSG’s head coach Jeremy Hunt will lay down the tactic against a handful of World Tour teams with Algerian spinter Yousef Reguigui likely to be in the fray as Morey Drew (Australia), Metkel Eyob (Eritrea) and Malaysia national champion Nur Amirul Fakhruddin Mazuki, the likely domestiques for Ovechkin.
Nasirudin Wan Idrus, TSG Chief Executive Officer, said that the team is currently in camp in Melbourne, Australia until February 3 for several races to fine-tune the team further before flying straight to Kota Kinabalu.
Nasirudin said that while TSG did not specify any target for the 25th edition of LTdL, the team would want to make sure they make a strong impression and pick up from their successes in 2018.
“We are naturally very glad that we managed to take the mantle as the best team in Asia in 2019. The target for this year would be to retain that title and of course aim for more stage victories internationally,” added Nasirudin.
“The successes that we have carved so far are the results of the strong backing that we have received from the Terengganu state government, and the several sponsors that have been with us all these years.”
TSG picked up a total of 2,658 points to take the top spot in Asia and 28th in the world.
The 8-stage Jubilee edition is scheduled from 7 to 14 February 2020, covering a total distance of 1095.7km across 9 states which include Sarawak, Terengganu, Pahang, Federal Territories (Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur) Selangor, Perak, Penang, and Kedah.
