South Africa’s Qhubeka eyeing King of the Mountain tag

PETALING JAYA: South Africa’s MTN Qhubeka are hoping to make an impact in the Le Tour de Langkawi (LTDL) Stage Five which finishes atop Genting Highlands.

The team feature two South African riders, Jaques Janse van Rensburg and Dennis van Niekerk, supported by neo pros Adrien Niyonshuti (Rwanda), Jani Twelde, Meron Russom and Tesfai Habtariam (all from Eritrea).

Van Niekerk finished fourth overall last year while van Rensburg took sixth spot in the 2009 edition.

Team principal Douglas Ryder, who rode in the LTDL seven times as amember of the South African national team and won the King of the Mountain classification in 1998, will lead the team.

“I have always enjoyed the people and the toughness of the race in which South African riders have done well in the past,” said Ryder.

Ryan Cox was the first South African to win the LTDL in 2005 with team Barloworld and compatriot David George emulated the feat in 2006.

Team coach Dr Carol Austin said both van Niekerk and van Rensberg are in form to tackle the mountain stage of Genting Highlands.

“They are the best climbing talents Africa has. Their power data show that they are primed to tackle the stage and finish well in the overall classification,” said Austin.

Although the new riders will be making their first international stage race outside of Africa, Austin has strong faith in them.

“They just joined the team in mid-january, but quickly adopted to our hard training method. They are aggressive, fearless cyclists and will be eager to earn the respect of the peloton,” he said.