Form on the up after his second on the final stage and second overall in the Jelajah Malaysia race, defending champion David McCann will lead the Giant Kenda team in the upcoming Tour of Taiwan.
Beginning on Saturday with a two kilometre prologue in Taipei, the UCI 2.2-ranked race is an important one for the team as it is based there.
McCann will be joined by two other Irish riders in the event, with new signing Ryan Sherlock accompanying him from Malaysia and David O’Loughlin flying in to begin his season.
“I'm really looking forward to racing with the other David,” McCann told VeloNation today. “He hasn’t raced yet this year but he knows how to train himself into incredible shape. He will add real flat land strength to the team. Australian climbing ace Jai Crawford and Alex Coutts give the climbing power and newcomer Sherlock should also prove strong when the race hits the hills.”
Crawford was due to make his debut in the Tour de Langkawi, but was blocked from starting by UCI officials as his paperwork was delayed. He transferred to the team after the Pegasus Sports squad collapsed, and competed in the Jelajah Malaysia event.
Last year, McCann won stage one and took the overall classification in the race. He beat Kenda Geargrinder rider Phil Gaimon by eight seconds, and Will Clarke (Genesys Wealth Advisers) by eleven.