Sulzberger arrives to strengthen
Letua in LTdL 2008
5/2/2008
KUALA LUMPUR (5 Feb, 2008): Malaysia’s
top outfit LeTua Cycling team today unveiled their surprise new
signing from Australia, Bernard Sulzberger in their team presentation
for Le Tour de Langkawi 2008 in Kuala Lumpur.
The team makes it second attempt
in Asia’s biggest cycling event Le Tour de Langkawi, with
high hopes of registering the first ever stage win by a Malaysian
rider through one of their three sprinters – Anuar Manan,
Ahmad Haidar Anuawar and Sayuti Zahit.
Besides that, the recent form of
the team’s veteran Indonesian climber Tonton Susanto, winner
of the Jelajah Malaysia 2008, showed that they have the strength
to challenge for a good position in the General Classification
(GC) and have a good shot at securing Tonton’s record third
Asian rider’s classification win in LTDL.
The arrival of the 25-year-old
Sulzberger is a timely boost for the squad’s aspirations
as he will be lining up as a key pacer in the team’s challenge
in bunch sprints on the flat stages, where they require a strong
team to put their sprinter in the best position to deliver the
stage win.
"At first we were undecided
mainly because we had to consider the tight budget that we will
be working with this year. But we were assured of a helping hand
by the good Peter Thompson of Meritus Racing, who sincerely offered
us support and advise to move forward,” said Shukor Yassin,
the team manager of LeTua cycling team.
"Bernard is a rider with experience
of racing in Europe and at the top level of world cycling. He
is probably the missing link we require to give the best European
sprinters a run for their money.
“And we know that Malaysia
has been waiting for a stage win in LTDL for some years no and
we aim to be the ones to deliver this dream.”
With Anuar in the line-up, LeTua
are gearing everything to deliver the historic first ever stage
win in LTDL by a Malaysian rider.
In all 12 previous editions of
Asia’s biggest race, this is something no Malaysian rider
had ever achieved.
LTdL 2008 begins on February 9 (Saturday) with a stage from Alor
Star, Kedah to Kepala Batas in Penang, seat of Malaysia's Prime
Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. The stage covers 182.6
kilometres.
The race's nine stages cover a
total distance of 1,377 kilometres, running through 10 states
in Peninsula Malaysia. For the first time this year, Fraser's
Hill has replaced Genting Highlands as the main climbing stage
of the race.
Le Tour de Langkawi maintains its
status as one of only two hors-category races in Asia, and the
biggest annual cycling event in the continent.
LETUA CYCLING TEAM: Anuar Manan,
Ahmad Haidar Anuawar, Sayuti Zahit (Mas); Rian Ariehaan, Tonton
Susanto (Ina); Bernard Sulzberger (Aust).
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