132 riders, 22 teams, five continents for Asia’s biggest race
The organisers of the Tour de Langkawi have announced the provisional start list for the 2013 edition of the race, to run between February 21st and March 2nd, which contains riders from 30 different nations. The country most represented will be host nation Malaysia, with 16 out of the 132 riders, while Japanese riders make up the second highest number.
Also in the race will be ten Italians, eight each from Australia and the Netherlands, and seven from the USA and Korea.
Five of the 22 teams appearing in the 18th edition of what is arguably Asia’s biggest race will be ProTeams from the International Cycling Union (UCI) WorldTour, as well as six Professional Continental Teams; the rest will be Continental teams from the Asia Tour, along with national teams from Malaysia and Indonesia.
“We’re delighted to provide the Malaysian public with such a diverse international bunch of cyclists”, said Le Tour de Langkawi CEO, Emir Abdul Jalal. “It also means that a lot of people from different countries will be able to locate Malaysia on the map of the world thanks to cycling because of our extensive media coverage outside the country.”
One of the biggest names among that “international bunch” will be Europcar’s Pierre Rolland, who will be riding his second edition of the race. The 26-year-old Frenchman, – who took the Alpe d’Huez stage of the 2011 Tour de France and the La Toussuire stage of last year’s race – will be one of those riders to watch on the tough mountain finishes at Cameron Highlands and Genting Highlands.
Other likely overall contenders include Lachlan Morton and Peter Stetina (Garmin-Sharp), Alexandr Dyachenko and Andrey Kashechkin (Astana), Jonathan Monsalve (Vini Fantini), Gianluca Brambilla and Serge Pauwels (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Cameron Meyer and Pieter Weening (Orica-GreenEdge), Jackson Rodriguez and Carlos Ochoa (Androni Venezuela), Dennis van Niekerk and Jacques Janse van Rensburg (MTN), Victor Nino and Oscar Pujol (RTS), Fortunato Baliani (Nippo) and John Ebsen (Synergy Baku Cycling Project).
As well as the climbing stages, le Tour de Langkawi is expected to see some spectacular sprint finishes, with record-breaking Andrea Guardini returning to the race for the third time with his new Astana team. The 23-year-old Italian won an incredible five stages in his first appearance in 2011, then went one better with six in 2012, but will not have things all his own way in 2013.
Dutch former track World champion Theo Bos will have a Blanco team almost entirely dedicated to him, while other sprinters at the race include Francesco Chicchi (Vini Fantini), Koldo Fernandez and Steele Van Hoff (Garmin-Sharp), Bryan Coquard (Europcar), Jake Keough and Robert Förster (Unitedhealthcare), Andrew Fenn (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Aidis Kruopis (Orica-GreenEdge) as well as local heroes Harrif Salleh (Terengganu) and Anuar Manan (Synergy Baku Cycling Project).
The 2013 Tour de Langkawi will cover 1469.7km in ten stages, between February 21st and March 2nd.
Le Tour de Langkawi (2.1) February 21st-March 2nd
Stages
Stage 1: Thursday, 21 February 2013 – Kangar to Kulim, 162.7km
Stage 2: Friday, 22 February 2013 – Serdang to Kuala Kangsar, 117.8km
Stage 3: Saturday, 23 February 2013 – Sungai Siput to Cameron Highlands, 140.7km
Stage 4: Sunday, 24 February 2013 – Tapah to Kapar, 168.0km
Stage 5: Monday, 25 February 2013 – Proton to Genting, 110.3km
Stage 6: Tuesday, 26 February 2013 – Mentakab to Kuantan, 217.5km
Stage 7: Wednesday, 27 February 2013 – Kuantan to Dungun, 149.8km
Stage 8: Thursday, 28 February 2013 – Kuala Terengganu to Tanah Merah, 164.5km
Stage 9: Friday, 1 March 2013 – Pasir Puteh to Kuala Berang, 123.6km
Stage 10: Saturday, 2 March 2013 – Tasik Kenyir to Kuala Terengganu Loop, 114.8km
Provisional Start List
Garmin-Sharp
Koldo Fernandez de Larrea (Spa)
Nathan Haas (Aus)
Raymond Kreder (Ned)
Lachlan Morton (Aus)
Peter Stetina (USA)
Steele Von Hoff (Aus)
Astana Pro Team
Andrea Gaurdini (Ita)
Alexsandr Dyachenko (Kaz)
Assan Bazayev (Kaz)
Arman Kamshev (Kaz)
Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz)
Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz)
Orica-GreenEdge
Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu)
Luke Durbridge (Aus)
Aidis Kruopis (Ltu)
Travis Meyer (Aus)
Cameron Meyer (Aus)
Pieter Weening (Ned)
Blanco Pro Cycling Team
Theo Bos (Ned)
Graeme Brown (Aus)
Jetse Bol (Ned)
Thomas Leezer (Ned)
Jos van Emden (Ned)
Marc Goos (Ned)
Omega Pharma-Quick Step
Gianluca Brambilla (Ita)
Andrew Fenn (GBr)
Michal Golas (Pol)
Serge Pauwels (Bel)
Pieter Serry (Bel)
Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa)
Vini Fantini-Selle Italia
Francesco Chicchi (Ita)
Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita)
Stefano Borchi (Ita)
Michele Merlo (Ita)
Yonathan Monsalve (Ven)
Jano Sano (Jap)
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
Jake Keough (USA)
Aldo Ilesic (Slo)
Robert Förster (Ger)
Jeffry Louder (USA)
Jonathan Clarke (Aus)
Lucas Euser (USA)
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
Muhamad Adiq Husainie Othman (Mas)
Chad Beyer (USA)
Chris Butler (USA)
Gregor Gazdova (Slo)
Craig Lewis (USA)
Fabian Schnaidt (Ger)
Team Europcar
Yukiya Arashiro (Jap)
Bryan Coquard (Fra)
Cyril Gautier (Fra)
Perrig Quemeneur (Fra)
Kévin Reza (Fra)
Pierre Rolland (Fra)
Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela
Tomas Aurelio Gil Martinez (Ven)
Carlos José Ochoa (Ven)
Jackson Rodriguez (Ven)
Omar Bertazzo (Ita)
Patrick Facchini (Ita)
Diego Rosa (Ita)
MTN-Qhubeka
Dennis van Niekerk (RSA)
Jacques Janse van Rensberg (RSA)
Jani Tewelde Weldegabir (Eri)
Meron Russom (Eri)
Sergio Pardilla (Spa)
Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (Eth)
Synergy Baku Cycling Project
Anuar Manan (Mas)
Dene Thomas Rogers (NZl)
Kirill Pozdnyakov (Rus)
Dan Craven (Nab)
John Ebsen (Den)
David Clarke (GBr)
Tabriz Petrochemical Team
Hossein Askari (IRI)
Hossein Nateghi (IRI)
Mehdi Sohrabi (IRI)
Saeid Safarzadeh (IRI)
Alireza Asgharzadeh (IRI)
Amir Kolahdozhagh (IRI)
RTS Racing Team
Ng Yong Li (Mas)
Jang SunJae (Kor)
Victor Nino Corredor (Col)
Vidal Celis Zabala (Spa)
Fredy Gonzalez (Col)
Oscar Pujol (Spa)
Terengganu Cycling Team
Mohd Harrif Salleh (Mas)
Mohd Zamri Salleh (Mas)
Mohd Nor Umardi Rosdi (Mas)
Nur Amirull Fakhruddin Mazuki (Mas)
Mohammad saufi Mat Senan (Mas)
Mohd Shahrul Mat Amin (Mas)
OCBC Singapore Continental Cycling Team
Sea Keong Loh (Mas)
Ahmad Haidar Anuawar (Mas)
Josaphus Thomas Rabou (Ned)
Junrong Ho (Sin)
Chang Ee Timothy Lim (Sin)
Ji Wen Low (Sin)
Team Nippo-De Rosa
Julian David Arrendondo Moreno (Col)
Fortunato Baliani (Ita)
Shinichi Fukushima (Jap)
Manabu Ishibashi (Jap)
Mauro Abel Richeze (Arg)
Tanzou Tokuda (Jap)
Aisan Racing Team
Takeaki Ayebe (Jap)
Taiji Nishitani (Jap)
Kazuhiro Mori (Jap)
Yasuharu Nakajima (Jap)
Shinpei Fukuda (Jap)
Masakazu Ito (Jap)
KSPO
Sung Baek Park (Kor)
Seung Woo Choi (Kor)
Joon Yong Seo (Kor)
Sung Yeon Je (Kor)
Ji Min Jung (Kor)
Soon Young Kwon (Kor)
Hengxiang Cycling Team
Wang Meiyin (Chn)
Li Fuyu (Chn)
Xing Fu (Chn)
Liu Yilin (Chn)
Liu Jianpeng (Chn)
Wang Bo (Chn)
Malaysia National Team
Mohamad Fauzan Ahmad Lutfi (Mas)
Amir Mustafa Rusli (Mas)
Muhamad Rauf Nur Misbah (Mas)
Mohd Nor Rizuan Zainal (Mas)
Ahmad Fakhrullah Alias (Mas)
Yusrizal Usoff (Mas)
Indonesia National Team
Aiman Cahyadi (Ina)
Dadi Suryadi (Ina)
Hari Fitrianto (Ina)
Wijaya Endra (Ina)
Manulang Robin (Ina)
Fatahilah Abdulah (Ina)