Australia
Stronger Than Ever for LTdL
28/1/2009
 |
| Shayne
Bannan - the driving force of Australian cycling. |
Kuala Lumpur – On the record
books, the Australian national team has never won a stage or the
general classification at Le Tour de Langkawi but since the early
win of the late Damian McDonald back in 1996 under the colours
of trade team Giant-Australia for the inaugural event, Australia
has played a major role in the success of the Malaysian event.
“We stopped taking part in Le Tour
de Langkawi for several years because the 12-day race was too
long for our young riders”, national road coach Brian Stephens
explained. “We came back in 2007 with our trade team Southaustralia.com
and now the 7-day format suits our program at perfection.”
With the number of Continental teams increasing
drastically in Australia and more of them bidding for LTdL than
the race organisation could realistically host, the team invitation
committee chaired by Datuk Naim Mohamad opted for inviting the
Australian national team providing the opportunity to the coaches
from down under to select the best Australian riders available
in February.
“Our group of three selectors looked
at which would be the best riders for the Tour Down Under and
those for Le Tour de Langkawi”, explained the technical
director of Cycling Australia Shayne Bannan.
It appeared to them that LTdL would suit
Richie Porte even more than the Tour Down Under where he finished
10th last year among all the Pro Tour teams. The Tasmanian rider
is again in a fantastic shape as he claimed the bronze medal at
the Australian national championship for time trial behind three-time
world champion Michael Rogers and Cameron Meyer who will also
take part in LTdL with Pro Tour outfit Garmin-Slipstream. In 4th
position was Cameron Wurf who is another motivated rider on the
Australian national team.
“I was offered a contract with Silence-Lotto
and I only found out in December that it wouldn’t happen”,
said the former member of the Austrian team Volksbank now renamed
Vorarlberg-Corratec and set to debut at LTdL this year. “I’m
delighted that at least I can use Le Tour de Langkawi to show
the Pro Tour teams that I’m able to ride for them as I’m
looking for a contract”, Wurf continued.
“Our national team is a mix of experience
and up-and-coming riders together with riders like Porte and Wurf
in search of a contract in a big team”, Bannan underlined.
The young ones are the very promising Tim Roe and Adam Semple
while the old ones would be Gene Bates, 27, and Jai Crawford,
25. “We count on Bates’ long experience of Le Tour
de Langkawi for the the leadership and we picked Crawford for
his good history in Asian cycling. Bates came close to a stage
win with LPR in 2007, Crawford finished 5th overall that same
year. Crawford won stage 3 and finished 8th at the Tour of Wellington
in New Zealand last week. It says a lot about his current physical
condition.
“We take Le Tour de Langkawi very
seriously and we are sending the best Australian team ever”,
Bannan promised.
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).
The Australian national team for
Le Tour de Langkawi (February 9-15): Gene Bates, Jai Crawford,
Richie Porte, Tim Roe, Adam Semple, Cameron Wurf.
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