KUALA LUMPUR – WorldTeam from Kazakhstan, XDS Astana Team will be spearheaded by two of its top class sprinters at the PETRONAS Le Tour de Langkawi 2025 (PLTdL25), which can be described as an early warning to dominate the flat stages of the race which runs from 28th September to 5th October.
In the initial list of six riders submitted to the organisers, Astana has named Matteo Malucelli, the winner of King of Sprint red jersey and three stages at PLTdL24, along with Gleb Syritsa, a sprint specialist with a collection of four stage victories in the PLTdL.
Their strategy to line-up two sprint specialists, directly reflects Astana’s plan to dominate the six stages of this year’s PLTdL25 route that are considered flat and advantageous for sprinters.
PLTdL25 Chief Operating Officer (COO), Emir Abdul Jalal, said that he was not surprised by the team’s strategy, especially with six stages that are considered flat and favour teams with sprint specialists in their line-up.
“Based on this year’s route, we expect six stages to end in a bunch sprint to the finish line and teams with several sprint specialists will definitely want to rack up stage wins. With Malucelli and Syritsa’s presence, Astana seems to have the advantage.
“It might also be part of the team’s strategy to balance the presence of other teams sprint specialists such as Alberto Dainese from Tudor Cycling and Fabio Jakobsen (Team Picnic PostNL), who both have great reputations with victories in the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana respectively,” said Emir in a press statement today.
The other four riders on Astana’s preliminary list are Aaron Gate, Anton Kuzmin, Nicolas Vinokurov and Lev Gonov.
Gate, 35, from New Zealand, is a four gold medals winner at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Birmingham and is expected to be strong contender in the pursuit of the overall individual green jersey in PLTdL25.
Kuzmin, 29, and Gonov, 25, who are also Syritsa’s track pursuit teammates, are expected to play a key role in forming the Astana strategy at the front of the peloton in the final few kilometers, before creating an opening for either Malucelli or Syritsa in the final sprint.
Nicolas, 23, the son of the legendary Alexander Vinokourov, is expected to be a helper in Astana’s daily strategies and may be instructed to follow any breakaway attempts by a small group of riders.
“Based on this preliminary list, that is what we can predict, but Astana’s strategy might change later depending on the situation and the team’s priorities as it is subject to several factors and race situations.
“However, with their status as a WorldTeam, we can say that Astana’s line-up at PLTdL this year can be considered as a strong and prominent team,” Emir added.
The 29th edition of PTdL25, which covers all 12 states in Peninsular Malaysia with a total distance of 1,257.8 kilometers (km) over eight stages, has attracted the participation of three WorldTeams, eight ProTeams, 10 Continental teams and one national team – Malaysia.
PLTdL25 with ProSeries status in the UCI Asia Tour calendar, is organized by the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) through the National Sports Council (NSC) 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.
XDS ASTANA TEAM RIDERS
- Gleb Syritsa (RUS)
- Aaron Gate (NZL)
- Anton Kuzmin (KAZ)
- Matteo Malucelli (ITA)
- Nicolas Vinokurov (KAZ)
- Lev Gonov (KAZ)
