Riders to watch at Le Tour de Langkawi

Le Tour de Langkawi cycling race will kick off from Kangar on Wednesday with a 165.5km stage to Baling in Kedah.

A total of 22 teams, including three World Tour outfits – Astana, Tinkoff and Team Dimension Data, will compete in the race.

The Cameron Highlands stage (Stage 4) is expected to be where the race could be won or lost. The winner of the stage is expected to hold on to the leader's yellow jersey until the end of the race, opening opportunities for sprinters to do skirmishes for stage wins on the other days.

Here are some riders to look out for in the 2016 Le Tour de Langkawi:

Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana)

Touted as the hot favourite in the race, the 22-year-old Colombian won the Tour l'Avenir in 2014. At the Tour de San Luis in January, Lopez beat the likes of 2014 Giro d'Italia winner and fellow Colombian Nairo Quintana and Vincenzo Nibali for a mountain-top stage win.

Jasper Hansen (Tinkoff)

The young Danish climber finished 18th overall in his debut in 2014 when the race made the trip to Genting Highlands. He improved his results to sixth overall last year after a strong performance at Frasers Hill where he finished ninth in the stage. The long, but less steep climb at Cameron Highlands would suit the 25-year-old as he strengthen his repertoire as useful climber with Tinkoff.

Janez Brajkovic (UnitedHealthCare)

A veteran in the peloton, the 32-year-old Slovenian was a team-mate to Lance Armstrong from Discovery Channel years right up to Astana in 2014. He could be the dark horse to win the race as he shaping up well after Tour of Oman last week, where he finished 15^th on the mountain-top finish at Green Mountain.

Jakub Mareczko (Southeast)

The young Italian sprinter started the year with a stage win in Tour de San Luis, upstaging the likes of Elia Viviani and world champion Peter Sagan. The 21-year-old came close to win in Le Tour de Langkawi last year with two second-place finish, but his time may come this year.

Andrea Guardini (Astana)

Talking about Le Tour de Langkawi without mentioning Guardini is incomplete, for he holds the recognition as having the most stage wins (18) in the history of the race. The 26-year-old Italian just came off from a solid block of racing in the middle-east, with a third place finish in the opening stage of Tour of Qatar behind Mark Cavendish and Sacha Modolo. Expect Guardini break 20 wins this year.

Worthy of mention:

Anuar Manan (Terengganu Cycling)

One of the outsiders to win a stage, he was the first Malaysian to win one in 2010. Several top three finishes in the race over the years remind us that he is still one of the fastest finishers in the peloton.

Matt Goss (One Pro Cycling)

The Australian is maybe at the twilight of his career, but don't discount the 29-year-old former Milan-Sanremo winner yet. He is relishing his role as a mentor in the new team but is still capable of taking a stage in Le Tour de Langkawi.