QUALITY GC RIDERS IN CLOSE FIGHT
Inaugural Tour of Peninsular is expected to see stiff competition for honours
THE competition for the overall title at the inaugural Tour of Peninsular (ToP) is expected to be close with no shortage of quality general classification (GC) riders in the UCI 2.1 tour, which begins in Dungun today.
Terengganu Cycling Team’s (TSG) Artem Ovechkin (of Russia), who won Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) last year, will be the local favourite for the win but he will face stiff competition for the yellow jersey.
Kinan Cycling Team’s Thomas Lebas (of France) and Taiyuan Miogee Cycling Team’s Jeroen Meijers (of the Netherlands) are in fine form at the moment.
Meijers and Lebas won the Tour of China 1 (UCI 2.1) and Tour de Bayuwangi (UCI 2.2) respectively.
Team Sapura Cycling’s (TSC) Benjamin Dyball (of Australia), who was initially registered for the tour, will not be competing due to family matters.
Dyball, who will be moving to Team NTT next season, won this year’s LTdL.
TSC, however, still have Moldovan rider Christian Raileanu to bank on in the GC.
Raileanu is also in good form having finished second at the Tour of Azerbaijan (UCI 2.1) recently.
With Stages One, Two, Three and Five being relatively flat, the climb up Cameron Highlands on Day Four will likely decide the GC competition.
Meijers, 26, is cautiously optimistic of his chances here.
“This is my second time racing in Malaysia.
“I raced in the Tour of Johor in April which was flat for all three days, so this will be very different,” said Meijers in Kuala Terengganu yesterday.
“I expect quite an open race here. In Asia, the first stage of a tour is always open, and I need to watch out for that and try to ride a good GC.
Lebas, 33, echoed Meijers’ sentiments.
“There are a few riders here who can win the GC,” said Lebas.
“This will be my last race of the season. I think we have a strong team here and we will try to fight together for the podium or possibly an overall victory.”
Ovechkin, 33, is aware of the expectations placed on his shoulders but downplayed his chances of a popular victory.
“Of course ToP is a very important race for us because it is the second (biggest) Malaysian race and we have some good stages for our sprinters,” said Ovechkin.
“I think the minimum for me is to finish among the top three, but we also have good riders here who have enjoyed promising results recently.
“When I won LTdL last year, I attacked from the start at Cameron Highlands and that may not be possible this year with the quality of riders here this time.”
Stage One today will start in Dungun and end in Kuala Terengganu, covering a total distance of 180.6 kilometres.
It is a flat stage with intermediate sprints at Kuala Berang, Kelulut and Rusila and only one Cat 4 climb at Kg Perus.