PETALING JAYA: Dutch cyclist Pieter Weening of Orica Greenedge, who finished second overall to Julian Arredondo (Nippo De Rosa) in Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) last year, will be back for another tilt at the top spot when the race is held from Feb 27-March 8.
Last year, Weening first lost some time to overall winner Arredondo of Colombia at Cameron Highlands, before conceding more time atop Genting Highlands.
Arredondo, who now rides for Trek Factory Racing, made a decisive move to jump clear of the rest and finish second behind Wang Meiyin (Henxiang Cycling) at Camerons. It put him 46 seconds ahead of Weening, who finished fifth.
Atop Genting, the damage was too big even though Weening managed to finish 26 seconds behind Arredondo in second place. Arredondo won the overall title by 1:15.
Orica team manager Shayne Bannan said that Weening wanted return after his brilliant performance last year.
“Weening is definitely a contender for the overall title. He really enjoyed the race last year and his pre-season this year was a lot better than last year,” said Bannan.
Weening, who will compete in the Mallorca Challenge in Spain prior to the LTdL, will have Sam Bewley (New Zealand), Esteban Chaves (Colombia), Damien Howson (Australia), Brett Lancaster (Australia) and Aidis Kroupis (Lithuania) as his team-mates.
Last year, Kroupis grabbed three third-placed finishes and he’ll be eyeing a stage win this year.
“We always enjoy the good weather and the excellent level of organisation in the LTdL. It’s a fantastic event to prepare for the rest of the season,” said Bannan.
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