KUALA LUMPUR – Equipo Kern Pharma aim to shake PETRONAS Le Tour de Langkawi 2025 (PLTdL25) even though they received a last minute invitation to PLTdL25 which runs from September 28th to October 5th.
This Spanish ProTeam who replace WorldTeam, Cofidis, is making its second consecutive appearance and will field three riders who have previously competed in Malaysia. Their goal is to defend their overall team classification victory from last year, with Unai Iribar Jauregi expected to lead the challenge for the overall individual Green Jersey sponsored by Petronas.
The two other returning riders are Jorge Gutierrez Gonzalez, 22, who also competed last year and climber Ivan Cobo Cayion, 25, who raced in the PLTdL23.
The team’s two sprinters for this year are Marc Brustenga Masague, 25 and Miguel Angel Fernandez Ruiz, 28. Nil Gimeno Ferrer, 21, is expected to play a key role as a support rider.
PLTdL25 Chief Operating Officer (COO), Emir Abdul Jalal, said that Equipo Kern Pharma responded immediately when they were invited to fill the spot left vacant by Cofidis.
“We had them at the top of our list among the four teams that showed interest to race in PLTdL25 and as soon as they were invited, they gave us the green light,” he said in a statement today.
“This shows recognition and a strong desire from the team to race in Malaysia, especially after they won the team title and their rider, Unai Iribar, finished only 20 seconds behind last year’s PETRONAS Green Jersey winner, Max Poole,” Emir added.
Despite the disappointment of not securing a wildcard spot for the Vuelta a Espana this year, Kern Pharma has had a busy racing schedule across Europe and Asia since January, with three victories to their belt.
Brustenga, a former WorldTeam Lidl-Trek rider, is expected to lead Kern Pharma’s challenge on the flat stages after narrowly missing podium spots multiple times this year. He finished fourth in the Tour of Hongrie, twice placed fifth in the Presidential Tour of Turkiye and was sixth in the Tour of Britain.
Brustenga will likely be supported by Fernandez, a former Burgos-BH rider who also finished fourth twice in this year’s Tour of Qinghai Lake.
Among the three climbers on the roster – Iribar seems to have struggled with his performance lately, but Cobo, who finished fourth overall in O Gran Camino, 11th overall in the Tour of Qinghai Lake and third in the Tour du Doubs this year, along with last year’s eighth-place overall finisher, Gutierrez Gonzalez, are expected to support each other, especially on the hilly sections of Stage 3 (Gerik-Pasir Puteh) and Stage 5 (Temerloh-Bukit Fraser).
According to Emir, Kern Pharma should be considered as a team to watch at this year’s PLTdL25 because their riders consistently deliver impresive results in every stage, which led to the team’s podium finishes in their two previous appearances in 2023 and 2024.
The 29th edition of the PLTdL25, which will pass through all 12 states in Peninsular Malaysia, will begin on Langkawi Island on September 28th and conclude in KLCC on October 5th, covering a total distance of 1,224.2km.
The race is a 2.ProSeries event on the UCI Asia Tour calendar and is organized by the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) through the National Sports Council (MSN) in collaboration with the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF).
The race will begin in Langkawi Island on September 28 with the first stage covering a distance of 96.5 kilometers (km) 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 Fraser’s Hill, 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 October 5.
EQUIPO KERN PHARMA RIDER LIST
- MARC BRUSTENGA MASAGUE (ESP)
- MIGUEL ANGEL FERNANDEZ RUIZ (ESP)
- IVAN COBO CAYION (ESP)
- NIL GIMENO FERRER (ESP)
- UNAI IRIBAR JAUREGI (ESP)
- JORGE GUTIERREZ GONZALEZ (ESP)
