The Rwandan Road World Championships may have already pulled the attention of cycling fans away from Europe, but as the racing for the rainbow bands wraps up on Sunday, the reasons to continue looking further afield will not end; in fact, the Petronas Le Tour de Langkawi will be hoping to draw the eyes of the cycling world even further away.
The race, which begins on its namesake island, will host the usual mix of WorldTour, ProTour and Continental riders, and while the season may be nearing its conclusion, there is plenty of reason for the rider motivation to remain high at the race.
It delivers on many fronts, acting as a last chance tour for those that haven’t had the year or contract market go their way, or alternately it can set up a first chance for up and coming riders eager to draw the attention of a top tier team – that is after all a theory that has a proven-history, going right back to when Alexander Vinokourov managing to catch a crucial eye when he lined up at the second edition with the Kazakh national team in 1997
The points up for grabs in the overall and stages – topping out at 200 for the GC winner and 20 for the victor of each stage – could be a handy addition to the final tally for a number of teams, with UNO X on the brink of a WorldTour spot, Tudor Pro Cycling well-positioned for the automatic Grand Tour invites, while further down the rankings VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizané is in a tight battle with Solution Tech Vini Fantini for a place inside the top 30 and both are at the race.
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