After a weeks rest, the team are hoping to continue off the back off the success of Michael Torcklers’ tour win at the Tour of Borneo, but with less than a week of recovery, it is going to be a tough first couple of days getting back into racing.
“The boys rode like two teams in Borneo and it has been really hard to recover,” said Director Sportif, John “Harry” Harris, “Torckler is feeling really good so we are really just going to have to pick our days.”
PureBlack Racing welcomes back Shem Roger, who has recovered from the illness that forced him out of the previous tour.
“Shem’s feeling much better - he is on the upward swing rather than the downward spiral,” said Harry.
The five-man team racing Jelajah Malaysia is:
Louis Crosby
Shem Rodger
Michael Torckler
Roman van Uden (Captain)
James Williamson
Jelajah Malaysia is a six-day stage race, starting at the Stadium Medeka in Kuala Lumpur and covering 1,023.5km.
Stage One is 161.5km from Kuala Lumpur to Bandar Baru Kampar. The teams will have little time to settle into their rhythm - with a Category 4 climb just 21km from the start, a fractured field is a very real possibility. The climb is followed by two sprint premes leading to Bandar Baru Kampar, guaranteeing plenty of action on the first day of racing.
Stage Two is 201.8km from Bandar Baru Kampar to Kulim, Kedah; Stage Three is 168.8km from Kulim, Kedah to Felda Chumpling Perlis; Stage Four is 98.5km from Kandar, Perlis to Sungai, Petani; Stage Five is 193.4km from Sungai, Petani to Ipoh and Stage Six is 199.5km from Ipoh to Dartaran Mereleka, Kuala Lumpur.