Hosts have most number of riders again for LTdL

PETALING JAYA: Host Malaysia will again have the most number of riders — 15 — for the seven-stage Tour of Langkawi (LTdL) from Feb 9-15.

Italy will have 11 riders, followed by Australia (9) and France (8).

South Africa, Kazakhstan, Iran, China and South Korea will field six riders each.

Spain, Switzerland and Japan will have five riders, Ukraine three, and the United States, Germany, Austria, Venezuela, Tunisia, Algeria and Indonesia two each.

Belgium, New-Zealand, Canada, Holland, Slovenia, Poland, Ireland, Sweden, Britain, Moldova, Colombia, Argentina, Mongolia, Syria and Qatar will have one rider each.

LTdL chief operating officer Datuk Naim Mohd said the event was becoming more international despite the reduction in the number of participating teams from 25 last year to 20 this year.

Last year, a record 30 nations lined up for the race but the provisional start list for this year’s will see riders from 35 different countries and five continents.

The youngest rider will be 19-year-old Vadim Izotov of Kazakhstan and the oldest is 37-year-old Shinichi Fukushima of EQA-Meitan-Hompo.