With his victory on stage 8, second place on stage 7, and third on stage 9, Robert Förster’s Tour de Langkawi has almost surpassed his entire 2010 season. The German sprinter, in his first season with US Professional Continental team UnitedHealthcare, is spending his first year away from a German team and is clearly benefiting from the change of atmosphere.
In his previous two seasons with Team Milram Förster’s sole victory came in the 2009 Presidential Tour of Turkey; the closest he came last year was one second place in the Volta a Catalunya and two at the Österreich-Rundfahrt, although his biggest results were third places in a stage of the Giro d’Italia and in the Scheldeprijs.
"We are executing against a good strategy and I'm proud to do my part to put us in a position to win, said the German. “We have worked together throughout this Tour and today was no exception. This has been a great way to start off the season and I couldn't be happier being a part of this Team."
For Team Director Eric Greene the victory and podium finishers for Förster in the team’s first ever appearance at the Malaysian stage race is down to some great teamwork from the squad.
"Throughout this Tour, we have seen some incredibly aggressive racing," he said. "Our Team rode well today and covered all of the attacks. The guys are getting stronger with each stage and have really come together as a team. Their effort has been tremendous and putting Robert on the podium three days in a row is a testament to their hard work."
The spirit and hard work is emphasised, for Greene, by Australian Karl Menzies; the 33-year-old crashed heavily on stage 9 but fully plans to take the start on stage 10 and finish the race.
"Karl is just amazing when it comes to dealing with pain,” said Greene. “He crashed pretty hard, but I'm sure the ground is the one smarting tonight!"