Explosive Japanese rider Taiji Nishitani will seek to repeat his 2010 stage win in next month’s Tour de Langkawi, leading the Aisan Racing Team in the 2.HC race.
The 29 year old surprised many when he was first to the line in Parit Sulong, beating Michael Matthews (Jayco Skins) plus the rest of the main bunch. Matthews went on to win the world under 23 championship road race in Geelong, showing his own finishing speed there, and so Nishitani is a very rapid rider.
Eight of the ten stages in the 2011 editon are flat, setting things up for another strong display from Nishitani. He will be backed by team-mates such as Kazuhiro Mori and Masashiro Shinagawa, a two time national champion who rode Paris-Roubaix as part of the Skil-Shimano team.
All three have plenty of experience of working together, having completed in the 4km team pursuit in the recent 2010 Asian Games.
The team will be completed by Shimpei Fukuda, Kenichi Suzuki and Takeaki Ayabe; the latter two are regarded as most likely to contend in the Cameron Highlands and Genting Highlands climbing stages.
“With their former rider [Takumi] Beppu managing the team, I am certain that Aisan will give a competitive edge to the race,” said the Tour de Langkawi CEO Mohamed Salleh. “They gave quite a performance in 2010, I am excited to see what they have in store for next year. We are delighted to have them back in Malaysia.”
The race will run from January 23 to February 1, and is expected to include several ProTour teams. It begins on Langkawi Island and ends 1315 kilometres later in Kuala Lumpur.