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| Team Manager |
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| Paolo Simion |
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| Luca Chirico |
SHAH ALAM, 19 January 2016 : The most successful team in the history of Le Tour de
Langkawi will be back in action on Malaysian roads from February 24 to March 2nd.
It’s Bardiani-CSF who claimed no less than 34 stage victories in the past under
different sponsors’ names (Scrigno, Navigare and Panaria). The second most
successful squad is Androni with 24.
Although nine of their successes were
taken by Australian sprinter Graeme Brown, the organization run for thirty-five
years by Bruno and Roberto Reverberi who are father and son has a lot to do
with Italy leading the tally of stage wins with 69 while Australia follows with
only 26.
“Since our first trip to Malaysia in
1998, Le Tour de Langkawi has always had a special place in our heart”, said
Roberto who directed Mirko Rossato to the team’s first victory in the country
two days before Alessandro Petacchi’s historical first career win in Mersing.
Their last success up to date occurred in 2012 when Marco Canola rode away from
the breakaway to snatch a brilliant solo win in Kuantan.
“Last year we were delighted with the
way Luca Chirico rode to finish seventh overall”, Roberto added. “We had more
ambitions with our new sprinter Paolo Simion but he was seriously injured in a
crash and couldn’t complete stage 3 inside the time cut.”
Chirico and Simion enjoyed Malaysia so
much that they’ll both be back next month with another sprinter to watch for in
the person of Nicola Ruffoni who will be the oldest Bardiani-CSF rider at the
age of only 25. “In recent years, our recruitment policy has been to hire only
Italians and only young riders”, said Bruno Reverberi.
“We like this kind of team with a true
identity and an impeccable reputation, so we’re delighted that they accepted
our invitation once again”, commented the CEO of Le Tour de Langkawi Emir Abdul
Jalal. “I’m convinced we’ll see their green and white colours a lot from Kangar
to Melaka.”
Bardiani-CSF riders are also very
popular in their own country. This week, they also received wild-cards for
taking part in World Tour events Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-Sanremo and the Giro
d’Italia where they’ve won five stages in the past three editions [with Enrico
Battaglin in 2013, Stefano Pirazzi, Battaglin and Canola in 2014, Nicola Boem
in 2015].
BARDIANI-CSF FOR THE 2016 LE TOUR DE LANGKAWI :
Nicola Ruffoni, Paolo Simion, Luca Chirico, Mirco Maestri,
Giulio Ciccone, Simone Sterbini (Ita).
Organised by Ciclista Sports Sdn Bhd, the 21st edition of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) from 24 February to 2 March, 2016 is set to cover more than 1,100km over 8 stages, the UCI 2.HC (hors category) race featuring again as one of the biggest events on the UCI Asia Tour calendar.
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