KUALA LUMPUR: South Africa's Dimension Data will be back in Malaysia on Feb 24-March 2 for the Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) to defend the title they claimed with Algeria's Youcef Reguigui last year.
The multinational team that was recently promoted into the World Tour, will field all their African riders this time as they try to tackle the LTdL for the sixth consecutive time.
“It was a huge achievement for us to win this race in 2015 and we’re always delighted to come back”, said team manager Douglas Ryder who was a pioneer himself.
Ryder took part in the very first LTdL with the South African national team in 1996 (5th overall) and was crowned king of the mountain in 1998.
Reguigui won’t be part of the line-up this time but Malaysian fans can look out for Songezo Jim, 25, who completed his first grand tour last year with Vuelta a España and is likely to make his debut at the Tour de France next July.
"It will be my first time at the LTdL and in Malaysia”, said Jim.
“I’m excited to be racing here because I’ve only raced in Asia once before at the Tour de Korea. I know the LTdL offers a few sprint stages. It’s always a fast race. The Genting stage was very famous but it has been taken off this year so it’ll make the race more open and interesting.”
Hailing from Cape Town, Jim has already raced in America (Tour of Utah), in northern Europe (Arctic Race of Norway), in the Middle East (Abu Dhabi Tour) and recently for the first time in Australia where the Santos Tour Down Under opened its 2016 season.
"Travelling is part of being a professional cyclist.
“It’s amazing to be able to see the world like we do. However, we don’t do it as tourists. We firstly target to get results for the team. We have to enjoy it, otherwise it would be a hard job.”
LTdL chief executive officer (CEO) Emir Abdul Jalal is more than happy to have the South African outfit back for another year.
"We'd love to see them back, especially Dimension Data with riders from different African countries. I’m sure they’ll perform again and possibly even better than before as their inclusion into the World Tour has made them stronger."