KUALA LUMPUR – Two highly experienced former foreign riders who once don Terengganu Cycling Team (TSG) jersey will be the key assets for the Spanish ProTeam, Burgos-Burpellet BH in the PETRONAS Le Tour de Langkawi 2025 (PLTdL25) schedule to be held from September 28 to October 5.
In the preliminary list of six riders submitted to the PLTdL Secretariat, the team, making its fourth consecutive appearance, has included Merhawi Kudus and Jambaljamts Sainbayar who are well-known to cycling fans in the country.
The team will also retain last year’s King of the Mountain polka dot jersey winner, Mario Aparicio Munoz. Three other riders are David Martin, Georgios Bonglas, and Jose Manuel Diaz Gallego, all of whom have previously competed in the PLTdL.
PLTdL25 Chief Operating Officer, Emir Abdul Jalal stated that based on the list of six riders, the team appears to be aiming for at least three titles in the eight-stage race.
“Merhawi Kudus, Sainbayar, Aparicio and Gallego are all very experienced and respected climbers. So it’s no surprise that besides aiming for victories in Stage 3 Gerik-Pasir Puteh and Stage 5 Temerloh-Bukit Fraser, they will also be hunting for the overall individual green jersey, the King of the Mountain polka dot jersey and the overall team classification,” said Emir in a media statement today.
Kudus, 31, wore the TSG jersey last year and first made a name for himself after joining MTN-Qhubeka in 2014, where he finished second in the PLTdL overall individual classification.
During his four years with Qhubeka, his great talent led the rider to join WorldTour teams Astana (2019-2021) and EF Education (2022-2023) where he had the opportunity to compete in the Giro d’Italia (twice), the Tour de France (once) and the Vuelta a Espana (6 times).
Sainbayar, 31, also a respeced climber, wore the TSG jersey for three years (2021-2023) and finished 9th in the overall individual classification at PLTdL22. He also achieved numerous successes at the Asian level before the Mongolian national champion joined Burgos last year.
Aparicio, 25, has been with Burgos since 2021 and repaid the Spanish ProTeam’s trust by winning the King of the Mountain title at last year’s PLTdL24, accumulating 27 points, 5 points ahead of overall individual champion Max Poole from Team Firmenich PostNL (now PIcnic PostNL) in addition to finishing sixth in the overall individual classification.
Strengthening Burgos’ challenge will be Gallego, 31, an experienced rider who has competed twice in the Vuelta (2022 and 2023) and won the Combativity award twice in that Grand Tour.
Burgos two sprint specialists this time are the Spanish rider Martin, 26, who rode for the Polti Kometa team in last year’s PLTdL and three-time Greek national champion Bonglas, 35, who made his first PLTdL appearance in 2020 with the Ssios Miogee Cycling Team.
”Burgos strength this time is likely on the climbing stages, and with four climbers, it will be very interesting to see the team’s strategy each day especially with Kudus, Sainbayar and Aparicio on the hilly routes.
”With all their experience and ‘insider knowledge of the routes and unpredictable weather in this country, Burgos appears to have a unique strength throughout the eight days of competition,” Emir added.
PLTdL25 will pass through all 12 states in Peninsular Malaysia over eight days, covering a total distance of 1,243.5km, starting in Langkawi Island and ending at KLCC, Kuala Lumpur.
The ProSeries status tour on the UCI Asia Tour calendar is organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) through the National Sports Council (MSN) with the support of 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.
BURGOS-BURPELLET BH RIDER LIST
- MERHAWI KUDUS (ERI)
- DAVID MARTIN (ESP)
- JAMBALJAMTS SAINBAYAR (MGL)
- MARIO APARICIO (ESP)
- GEORGIOS BONGLAS (GRE)
- JOSE MANUEL DIAZ GALLEGO (ESP)
