KUALA LUMPUR: The National Sports Council (NSC) is keeping their expectations on Malaysian riders realistic ahead of Petronas Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) which will be held on Sep 29-Oct 6.
NSC director general Abdul Rashid Yaakub admitted that it will not be easy for Malaysian riders to recapture the mountains classification (polka dot) jersey that Nur Aiman Zariff had won in the 2020 and 2022 editions.
NSC is the organiser of the UCI ProSeries tour.
"Of course we hope that a Malaysian rider will be able to win not only the polka dot jersey but also the overall title one day," said Rashid.
"But it definitely won't be easy this year as the teams which are coming from abroad will be very strong.
"These are teams who have competed in the biggest races such as the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia.
"Our riders will have to be well prepared and we are working together with the Malaysia National Cycling Federation to support them (riders).
"If they are able to win the polka dot jersey, it would show that our riders have improved."
Aiman Zariff and Terengganu Cycling Team (TSG) teammate Nur Aiman Rosli will again be the favourites to excel for Malaysia in the polka dot and white jersey (Asian riders classification) competitions.
Aiman Rosli, at the time racing for the Malaysia national team, had briefly taken charge of the white jersey during LTdL last year.
The 25-year-old has had a solid season so far. He won the second stage of the Tour of Thailand in April and finished an agonising fourth in the Asian Championships road race in Kazakhstan (June).
Besides TSG, the two other Malaysian sides that will compete in LTdL are Malaysia Pro Cycling and the national team.
WorldTour teams Astana Qazaqstan, EF Education-Easypost (United States) and DSM Firmenich PostNL (Netherlands) - who all featured in the Tour de France this year - have confirmed their participation in LTdL.
A total of seven UCI ProTeams have also been confirmed for the race - Burgos BH, Equipo Kern Pharma, Euskaltel-Euskadi (all Spain), VF Group Bardiani CSF Faizane, Corratec Vini Fantini, Team Polti Kometa (all Italy) and Tudor Pro Cycling (Switzerland).