One year after winning the King of the Mountains title plus a stage in the race, the Australian Drapac Professional Cycling team will return to the Tour de Langkawi determined to chase more success.
The six-man lineup will be led by Stuart Shaw, who swooped on the final stage in Kuala Lumpur and thundered in to a fine sprint victory ahead of Footon Servetto’s Vidal Celis. The 33 year old showed his speed in 2008 when he netted third in the 1.1-ranked Halle-Ingooigem behind Gert Steegmans and Michael Rogers, and the following year won stage one of the Tour de Gironde in 2009, the Dutch Ambacht criterium plus the final stage of Tour de Nouvelle Caledonie.
He will be joined by compatriots David Pell, Rhys Pollock and Tom Palmer, as well as the Dutchman Goesinnen Floris and the Malaysian Mohammad Adiq Hussainie Othman. All bar Palmer and Goesinnen have competed in the event before, meaning that they will have the benefit of understanding well what is involved in the race.
The team’s competitiveness is likely to be based mainly around the flatter stages as its big climber from last year, Peter McDonald, is not expected to take part in the 2011 edition. However former Driedaagse de Panne King of the Mountains winner Goesinnen will aim to ride well on the mountain stages of Cameron Highlands and Genting Highlands. “Floris specialises in finding opportunities to breakaway from the peloton early in the race,” said team manager Agostino Giramondo.
Hussainie is certain to enjoy plenty of support from the enthusiastic crowd as he is Malaysian national champion. The team has chosen him over another Malaysian rider Amir Mustafa Rusli and while Tour de Langkawi CEO Mohammed Salleh would like to have seen him taking part, he believes that the team will have plenty to show.
“Even without newly signed Amir Mustafa assisting him in the team, we are looking forward to see Adiq perform with an impressive list of riders forming Drapac this year,” he stated.
The 2011 edition of the race begins on Langkawi island on January 23rd and runs until February 1st. It is once again a 2.HC ranked event, and will feature many international teams. The full lineup will be disclosed in the next fortnight.