The 2022 edition of Le Tour de Langkawi was one like never before. The field was the strongest ever seen, with six WorldTour teams joining the fray. The time on the calendar was flipped from early to late season and the usually dry and hot conditions at times gave way to deluges of rain, as even though it wasn’t yet time for the monsoon season it seemed determined to make an early arrival.
The race, with its exotic location and heightened drama of unusually wet weather, which led to one late course change after landslides on Gunung Raya, provided a dramatic location for what ended up being a last chance tour for many.
The relegation battle that had initially pumped up WorldTour team numbers may have been all but settled by the time the October 11-18 race came around, but there was little easing the intensity of racing over around 1,100km from Kuala Pila to Kuah on Langkawi. There were still plenty of reasons to lay it all on the line.
Yes, some riders were tired from a long season and just content to wind down toward the off season somewhere completely different, with the lush forest, monkeys roadside and heat and humidity ever present. However, many from the Continental and national teams were looking at the race as a potential new beginning rather than an end, as they fought to deliver results that would get them noticed so they could make the step up to the top ranks.
Then there were others, who had already turned professional, fighting for those rare remaining team slots because they were now in the uncomfortable position of having no contract for 2023 whether it be because they weren’t renewed or, like the Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli riders the future of their entire team was in doubt. That made the eight-day Malaysian tour a last opportunity to step into the limelight and keep their cycling career alive.
Then among those with the security of a team for 2023 there were still plenty of riders, as always, intent on chasing top results, hoping to end the season on a high note or make a last ditch effort to salvage something from a year that hadn’t gone to plan.
Scroll through the stage to stage photo galleries to look back over the memorable moment from the race, won overall by Movistar rider Ivan Sosa.
Stage 1 – Kuala Pilah to Kuala Lumpur
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