Sapura riders sad over ban

KUALA LUMPUR: Team Sapura Cycling riders Danilo Celano and Akmal Hakim Zakaria expressed disappointment at missing out on Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) this year but are determined to move on from the whole issue.

Celano won the yellow jersey when the iconic race was last held in 2020. The Italian had just joined the continental team earlier in that year.

"Yes of course it is very sad that we are unable to compete in LTdL this year and there is nothing we can do about it anymore," said the 32-year-old.

"But we are professionals, we just have to change our focus and keep training for races next season.

"I hope to come back to race in LTdL next year. It is a very beautiful race and I have fond memories of the tour."

Former national road race champion Akmal Hakim Zakaria echoed Celano's sentiments.

"It is very disappointing as we had really been looking forward to competing in LTdL," said Akmal.

"In terms of performance I have been doing very well recently and have been in top form.

"In terms of the (output) numbers, I had achieved a number of personal bests for climbing (during training).

"I am probably in the form of my life, even better than I was during the Hanoi Sea Games.

"We still have track endurance projects coming up and I am looking forward to doing well in that."

Sapura has been barred from competing in the race by the UCI after they were late to make a payment of 3,500 Swiss francs (RM16,304) to the world body as part of their commitment towards the UCI-enhanced anti-doping programme.

Teams need to complete an acknowledgement form - which Sapura had done in November last year - as well as make payment at least two months before competing in an UCI ProSeries event.

This is, however, not required for teams competing in lower category races such as UCI2.1 and UCI2.2 events.