Aug 15, 2013

20 STRONG TEAM LINE-UP CONFIRMED FOR TOUR OF BORNEO 2013

Team Corbusier Sarawak

Huon Salmon-Genesys

OCBC Singapore

Sabah Team

Synergy-Baku Cycling Project

Tabriz Petrochemical Team

Terengganu Cycling Team

KOTA KINABALU, 15 August 2013 - A 20-strong line-up of teams led by Jelajah Malaysia overall team champions Synergy-Baku Cycling Project and defending UCI Asia Tour overall team champions Terengganu Cycling Team are set to start the second edition of the Tour of Borneo this Sunday, August 18, 2013.

Also present will be Iran's Tabriz Petrochemical Team, who will start as favourites with former UCI Asia Tour overall individual champions Ghader Mizbani, Mehdi Sohrabi and Hossein Askari in their ranks, in an impressive start list that feature 10 UCI Continental teams.

In announcing the confirmation of participating teams, Tour of Borneo organising chairman Dato' Fredie Sua highlighted that a new overall champion is set to be crowned in the absence of defending champion Michael Torckler of New Zealand and his Pure Black Racing Team.

"We expect a more competitive race this year with what is a stronger field with 10 Continental teams and four strong national teams, including our own Malaysian national team. We always expect national teams like Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to be strong and they might even challenge the supremacy of the Continental teams," said Dato' Fredie

Along with the 10 Continental Teams and four national teams, comes the challenge of six club and state teams, led by Indonesia's Customs Cycling Team and a strong Royal Malaysian Police Team which won the overall Malaysian teams' classification in the Jelajah Malaysia in June.

The island of Borneo this time will be represented by two teams - the Sabah state team and Sarawak's Team Corbusier, who made their international debut in the Jelajah Malaysia.

"We have an exciting line-up of teams, no doubt about that. The field is very well balanced with mainly established teams with experienced riders, while it will be interesting to see how the teams from Borneo adapt to this high level of competition, since road cycling is still fledgling over here, unlike in West Malaysia," said Dato' Fredie.

"This is the whole idea, we need to give cycling sufficient exposure in this part of the country and to get the people interested in the sport. Who knows, from here we might soon discover potential cycling stars of the future." He added.

TEAM LIST FOR TOUR of BORNEO 2013 :

CONTINENTAL
Synergy Baku Cycling Team (Azerbaijan)
Terengganu Cycling Team (Malaysia)
Tabriz Petrochemical Team (Iran)
CCN Cycling Team (Brunei)
OCBC Singapore Continental Cycling Team (Singapore)
Huon Salmon Genesys Wealth Advisers Pro Cycling  (Australia)
Team 7 Eleven Presented By Road Bike Philippines (Philippines)
Team LBC (Philippines)
Polygon Sweet Nice (Ireland)
RTS Racing Team (Taiwan)

NATIONAL
Malaysia National Team (Malaysia)
Uzbekistan National Team (Uzbekistan)
Kazakhstan National Team (Kazakhstan)
Bahrain National Team (Bahrain)

STATE
Sabah (Malaysia)
Terengganu (Malaysia)

CLUB
Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (Malaysia)
Polis Diraja Malaysia (Malaysia)
Team Corbusier Sarawak (Malaysia)
Customs Cycling Club (Indonesia)

The second edition of Tour of Borneo will be held from 18th to 22nd August 2013, covering the west coast of Sabah. The 2.2 category Tour is sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) and is listed in UCI Asian Tour calendar, it is hoped to promote Sabah as the ultimate sports tourism destination in Malaysia, and promote cycling in the state.


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