Following on from last week’s announcement of 14 teams for the Tour de Langkawi, three ProTour teams have been reported as taking part in the 2.HC event.
Astana, Caisse d’Epargne and Footon Servetto will make the trip to Malaysia prior to the March 1 start, considerably boosting the standard of the field.
While the news hasn’t yet been announced by the race organisers, national news agency Bernama quoted two high-ranking officials as sources.
It said that Youth and Sports Ministry secretary-general Datuk Mohd Yassin Salleh confirmed the participation of ProTour teams, and said that more news was pending.
"We are still waiting for three more teams to confirm their participation until the end of the month," he said.
LTdL 2010 technical director Jamaludin Mahmood said that Alberto Contador was unlikely to compete on the Astana squad, but that he hoped other big names would be part of the teams.
He named two more ProTour squads as having been invited. "We are awaiting confirmation from HTC Columbia and Team Sky. Otherwise, we may have to invite other Asian or European teams.”
Pro Continental team ISD – Neri was previously the highest-ranked team named as taking part. The news that at least three ProTour teams will compete is a big boost for the event, which begins on March 1st with a 174.5 kilometre race from Kota Bharu to Kuala Berang.
Other stages are Kuala Terengganu - Chukai (182.3km); Pekan - Mersing (145.6km); Mersin-Parit Sulong (163.5km); Muar - Port Dickson (116.9km) Putrajaya - Genting Highlands (102.8km) and Kuala Kubu Baru - Dataran Merdeka (133.7km).
This year’s race will be the 15th edition of the Malaysian tour. Previous winners include Tom Danielson and Chris Horner (USA), Freddy Gonzalez and José Serpa (Columbia), Ryan Cox and David George (South Africa) and the Frenchman Anthony Charteau.
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Participating teams:
Pro Tour (yet to be officially announced by race organisers): Astana (Kazakhstan), Caisse D'Epargne (Spain) and Footon-Servetto (Spain)
Pro Continental: ISD-Neri (Italy)
Continental: Drapac Porsche (Australia), Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team (Iran), Seoul Cycling Team (South Korea), Marco Polo Cycling Team (China), Aisan Racing Team (Japan), Max Success Sport Cycling Team (China), Le Tua (Malaysia) Team Geumsan Ginseng Asia (South Korea), Azad University Cycling Team (Iran) and Giant Asia Racing Team (Taiwan)
National teams: Malaysia, Kazakhstan and South Africa.
-- BERNAMA
ProTour :
Astana
Caisse d'Epargne
Footon-Servetto-Fuji
Profesional continental:
ISD-Neri
Continental:
Drapac Porsche
Tabriz Pretrochemical
Seoul Cycling Team
Marco Polo Cycling Team
Aisan Racing Team
Max Success Sport Cyclin Team
Le Tua Cycling Team
Team Geumsan Ginseng
Azad University
Giant Asia Racing Team
National teams:
Malaysia
Kazakstan
South Africa