With things going according to plan so far, Team Sapura Cycling are targeting two feats never achieved before by any Malaysian team in the Petronas Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL).
The team aim to win the Petronas Yellow Jersey for a second straight year as well as clinch the Red Jersey for the first time with a Malaysian rider.
Sapura’s Italian rider Danilo Celano and Nur Aiman Zariff lead the general (yellow) and climbers classification (red) respectively heading into Stage Five today.
Sapura team manager Sayuti Zahit is confident his riders can complete the job.
“Usually, Stage Four (climbing stage) decides who will win the Yellow Jersey at the end of the tour. If you look at the remaining stages, they are not that difficult, so we should be able to defend it,” said Sayuti.
“If everything goes to plan, we should keep the Yellow Jersey (via Celano).
“We have put in a lot of planning and hard work since we won it (Yellow Jersey) last year in terms of training and nutrition and we have to thank our sponsor Sapura for their support over the past four years.
“To win it (yellow) the first time might have been lucky, but it would be an outstanding achievement for a Malaysian team if we could win it for the second time in a row.
“Aiman has also shown some very good performances so far in this tour and we’re counting on him to maintain the Red Jersey until the end. No Malaysian rider has done it before.”
Sapura won the Petronas Yellow Jersey through Australian Ben Dyball last year. Dyball, however, joined WorldTeam NTT Pro Cycling at the end of last season.
Malaysian team Forca Amskins Racing won the red jersey in 2018 through Colombia’s Alvaro Duarte.
New Straits Times, 11 February 2020