SAPURA AIM TO SHINE IN TOUR OF TURKEY
Sayuti believes his riders can surprise big boys
AFTER a year without international action, Team Sapura Cycling are looking to mark their return to racing on a bright note at the Tour of Turkey on April 11-18.
Sapura will be up against a strong field at the UCI ProSeries race which includes WorldTour teams such as Astana-Premier Tech and Deceunick-Quickstep.
Sapura team principal Sayuti Zahit, however, is quietly optimistic his charges can spring a surprise or two against the big boys.
The UCI continental team, who left for Turkey yesterday, have included Danilo Celano (Italy), Jesse Ewart (Ireland), Ahmet
Orken (Turkey), Nur Aiman Rosli, Zawawi Azman and national road champion Akmal Hakim Zakaria in their squad.
“We don’t know for sure which riders the top teams will be sending but we believe a lot of the big names will be using the tour to prepare for the upcoming (European) spring classics,” said Sayuti.
“In general, all of the (Sapura) boys have been training well in the lead-up to the race, and many of them have significantly improved on their functional threshold power (FTP) test personal best.
“Danilo has been especially impressive while our Malaysian riders such as Aiman, Akmal and Zawawi, based on their FTP scores, are also bridging the gap to their foreign teammates.
“This is a good sign for us and hopefully this will translate into some positive performances in Turkey.
“Ahmet also has a lot of experience racing in Turkey and has even finished on the podium in the Tour of Turkey before. So, we hope to see him challenging for the podium on the flatter stages.”
FTP tests measure the highest average power (in watts) a rider can sustain for one hour and provide a good indicator of a rider’s current level of fitness and overall capacity.
Celano, who won Le Tour de Langkawi yellow jersey last year, will likely be Sapura’s main man in the general classification.
The Tour of Turkey kicks off on Sunday with a 167.3 kilometre stage from Nevsehir to Urgup.