LTdL: XDS Astana Lists Two Sprint Specialists

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 11 (Bernama) -- Kazakhstan’s WorldTeam outfit, XDS Astana Team, has listed two sprint specialists -- Matteo Malucelli and Gleb Syritsa -- in the preliminary roster of six riders for the 2025 Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL), to be held from Sept 28 to Oct 5.

Malucelli is the winner of the red jersey for sprints and three stages in last year’s LTdL, while Syritsa boasts four LTdL stage wins.

The other four riders named in Astana’s preliminary list are Aaron Gate, Anton Kuzmin, Nicolas Vinokurov and Lev Gonov.

LTdL Secretariat chief operating officer Emir Abdul Jalal said the team’s strategy came as no surprise, especially with six stages considered flat, which would favour teams with sprint specialists.

“It may also be part of their strategy to counter the presence of other sprint specialists such as Tudor Cycling’s Alberto Dainese and Team Picnic PostNL’s Fabio Jakobsen, both of whom have impressive records with wins in the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España,” he said in a statement today.

Emir added that based on the preliminary line-up, Astana’s strategy could change depending on circumstances and team priorities, as this would be influenced by several factors and race situations.

“However, with their WorldTeam status, we can say the Astana squad coming this time is a strong and fairly prominent team,” he said.

The 29th edition of the LTdL will cover all 11 states and the Federal Territory in Peninsular Malaysia over a total distance of 1,257.8km across eight stages. It has attracted entries from three WorldTeams, eight ProTeams, 10 Continental teams, and one national team - Malaysia.

A UCI ProSeries race on the Asia Tour calendar, the LTdL is organised by the Youth and Sports Ministry through the National Sports Council in collaboration with the Malaysian National Cycling Federation.

It will begin in Langkawi on Sept 28 with the first stage covering 96.5km, followed by Stage 2 from Padang Besar, Perlis to Kepala Batas, Penang (170.1km); Stage 3 from Gerik, Perak to Pasir Puteh, Kelantan (198.2km); Stage 4 from Kuala Terengganu to Kemaman (140.8km); Stage 5 from Temerloh to Bukit Fraser, Pahang (133.7km); Stage 6 from Shah Alam, Selangor to Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan (123.4km); Stage 7 from Melaka to Medini, Johor (214.6km); and Stage 8 from Tangkak, Johor to Kuala Lumpur (180.5km) on Oct 5.

-- BERNAMA