KUALA LUMPUR: Beaten twice in the bunch sprints in two stages last year, St George Continental Team will again be gunning for honours when the PETRONAS Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) starts in Kuching next week.
The Australian continental outfit are pinning their hopes on their young guns to shine.
Blake Quick, 19, who was edged to the second spot twice in tight sprint finishes behind Androni’s Matteo Pelucchi in Taping (Stage 5) and Marco Benfatto in Pekan Kuah (Stage 8), will take the lead role.
St George’s only memorable win in the tour was when Aussie Benjamin Dyball won the third overall spot in 2018.
Parading four riders from last year’s roster, St George, managed by Brett Dutton, will be looking at Quick, Michael Vink, Connor Reardon and Matthew Zenovich to provide the spark once again, along with young sprinters James Harvey and Jay Dutton.
Spearheading the general classification challenge are two experienced climbers in Michael Vink, who was part of the team last year, and Zenovich, a three-term rider with St George.
This year’s Genting climb to the 1,650-meter summit at World Resort Genting is scheduled on Feb 10.
The 8-stage LTdL is scheduled on Feb 7-14, covering a total distance of 1145.9 km across 9 states.