News for February 1

Time trial preview

By Tommy Campbell in Putrajaya

The opening time trial of the 2002 Telekom Malaysia Le Tour de Langkawi today is a brief 20.3 kilometres against the clock around the city of Putrajaya. To all intent and purposes the TT will not be a pushover, as the course is rather demanding because it is on highways, which are very exposed to the elements.

Those hopeful of wearing the final yellow jersey in Kuala Lumpur come Sunday week will be sending out a signal today. He will have struck a psychological blow in this city, which is the new administrative centre of the Federal Government of Malaysia. It may ultimately pay dividends in Merdeka Square when the race finishes in KL ten days later.

This being an early season event, it will be hard to gauge which of the 151 competitors who roll down the starting ramp within sight of Government buildings as to which is the fittest, but it will herald the beginning of Telekom Malaysia Le Tour de Langkawi 2002.

Although it is unlikely that a Malaysian competitor will have home supporters jumping for joy over an outright victory, there is enough variety in 2002 route of LTDL to suggest that last year's winner, the Italian Paolo Lanfranchi will have strong challengers from a variety of strong rivals.

Obviously, the time trial will give bearing as to who is the fittest in the event, but stage four from Tapah to Bentong will be decisive. Whilst the distance of 176.4 kms may not cause problems, the climb up to Frasers Gap will determine who the serious contenders are in this 7th edition of Le Tour.

If Frasers Gap does not show the cracks in the peloton, and then without doubt the climb up to Genting Highlands, which features in the penultimate stage, will yet again have left an indelible mark as to the where the winner of this year's tour is likely to come from.

For my couple of RM (Malaysian Currency) it will be a toss up between last year's winner Paolo Lanfranchi, who represents Index-Alexia Alluminio, and the Belgian Mario Aerts (Lotto-Adecco) with the aforementioned favoured to win outright. Nathan O'Neill of Ceramiche Panaria, a surprise winner of last year's TT is expected to repeat a win in today's test. Sure to do well will be Andrea Tafi who could notch up a couple of stage wins, but not the overall.