McLeod shows the way to the new South African generation
19/1/2009

Ian McLeod from South Africa.

Kuala Lumpur – Both South African champions for Elite and Under 23 will be reunited under the national colours for the 14th Le Tour de Langkawi starting in Putrajaya on February 9 and finishing in Kuala Lumpur on February 15. Since the inception of the race on the world cycling calendar back in 1996, South Africa has always competed. Coming from another hot part of the world in the southern hemisphere, their riders have often performed since Douglas Ryder’s 5th place overall in 1996 and the times when Andrew McLean was the biggest threat for the dominating Mapei team.

South Africans Ryan Cox and David George have won Le Tour de Langkawi consecutively in 2005 and 2006. They might be followed on the record book this year by either Ian McLeod or Jacques Janse van Rensburg. “These two riders combined forces at the SA Championships in 2008 with Ian taking the win and the Elite title and Jacques taking 2nd and the U23 title”, recalled Barry Austin who is the national team manager these days. “They know each other really well.”

McLeod used to race in a brotherhood style with Nic White and that helped him to gain a pro contract with Française des Jeux in 2005. The climber from Vereeniging was unlucky to crash badly during the last stage of Paris-Nice that year. He lost three litres of blood and it took him three years to come back to his normal level. With the French Pro Tour team, he returned to Malaysia in 2007 and posted a 16th place overall. Last year, back with the South African national team, he finished 9th.

“I’ve loved this race since the first time I took part in it back in 2001”, McLeod said. “Now that I’m not racing in Europe anymore, although I’d love to go back to a big team, to win Le Tour de Langkawi is my biggest goal.” The 28 years old South African champion might captain the team or put himself at the service of Janse van Rensburg who is a climber in the making.

“If all goes well, I am sure we will see this young man ride well up on GC after the Genting stage and show a new future prospect for RSA as Tour rider”, Austin emphasized. Apart from McLeod, the members of the South African team for Le Tour de Langkawi are between 22 and 24 years old. “This year’s LTDL is the start of preparing a new generation of cyclists to possibly represent RSA at the Olympics in 2016 to the best possible standard”, Austin continued. “That is why we chose such a young team. Our main focus is to teach up and coming GC type riders such as Jacques Jv Rensburg and to expose them to the type of racing they must cope with and overcome.”

Clearly, South Africa looks to finally have a plan for the future.

The 2009 Le Tour de Langkawi will feature 20 teams from February 9 to 15, starting in Putrajaya, the home of Malaysian government, and finishing in the country’s capital Kuala Lumpur with the traditional criterium at Dataran Merdeka.

The Tour is organized by the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) with the support of the Malaysian Government via the Ministry of Youth and Sports and sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and Asian Cycling Confederation (ACC).

South Africa for Le Tour de Langkawi (Feb. 9-15): Jacques Janse van Rensburg, Johann Rabie, Ian McLeod, Jay Thompson, Jaco Venter, Christoff van Heerden.

<< BACK