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9th Telekom Malaysia Le Tour de Langkawi - 2.2
Malaysia, February 6-15, 2004
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News for February 5, 2004
TMLTdL Team Presentation: Let the games begin
By Anthony Tan in Penang
At 5:00pm Malaysian time this evening, the official teams' presentation to
mark the official opening of the ninth edition of Telekom Malaysia Le Tour de
Langkawi got underway.
Held in the Grand Ballroom of the Hotel Equatorial, a 10 storey, 668-room monster
situated on the island of Penang, a stone's throw away from the mainland on
the northwest coast of Malaysia, the presentation was prefaced by a plethora
of traditional Malay dancing and singing and, as always, yet another course
of food for onlookers.
Once the festivities ended and stomachs were satisfied, it was time for the
twenty teams of seven riders to present themselves to the public and media.
National teams comprise half the 140-strong peloton, with the Canadian and South
African contingent looking the strongest - watch out for dual world MTB champion,
last year's King of the Mountains winner and fourth-placed overall, Roland Green,
to strike when the road veers skywards on Stages 2 and 9.
A interesting mixture of Division I, II and III teams form the rest of the
field of 70-odd riders. In the sprints classification, count on Lampre, Panaria-Margres,
Chocolade Jacques-Wincor-Nixdorf, Formaggi Pinzolo Fiave and Team Health Net
to be extremely active on the fast, flat stages of which there are eight - names
including Luciano Pagliariani, Graeme Brown, Jan Koerts, Ivan Quaranta and Gordon
Fraser come to mind.
For those riders more suited to and concerned with taking overall honours in
the TMLTdL - along with the lion's share of the RM 1.6 million total prizemoney
up for grabs - watch for Colombia Selle Italia (Freddy Gonzalez, Ruber Alveiro
Marin), Chocolade Jacques-Wincor-Nixdorf (Dave Bruylandts), Panaria-Margres
(Fortunato Baliani) and Lampre (Wladimir Belli, Sergio Barbero) to dominate
proceedings.
Overall, this year's Tour de Langkawi looks to be more exciting than ever.
Seven flat stages, an 18 kilometre time trial thrown in halfway through the
race and the traditional queen stage to the Genting Highlands, a total of 1250.9
kilometres, promises a intriguing week and a half's racing, and one could well
see the race on a knife's edge right through to the final day in Kuala Lumpur
on February 16.
Photography
First off: Colombia Selle Italia
Photo ©: Mark Gunter
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Lampre
Photo ©: Mark Gunter
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De-Nardi comes to the stage
Photo ©: Mark Gunter
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The Canadian team
Photo ©: Mark Gunter
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Formaggi Pinzolo Fiave
Photo ©: Mark Gunter
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The team from Japan
Photo ©: Mark Gunter
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Chocolade Jacques-Wincor Nixdorf
Photo ©: Mark Gunter
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The team from Iran
Photo ©: Mark Gunter
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Relax Bodysol
Photo ©: Mark Gunter
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With so much green, it can only
be...
Photo ©: Mark Gunter
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Barloworld
Photo ©: Mark Gunter
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China: keeping the Asian influence
real
Photo ©: Mark Gunter
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Team Health Net presented by Maxxis
Photo ©: Mark Gunter
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The Indonesian national team
Photo ©: Mark Gunter
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The South African national team
Photo ©: Mark Gunter
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Dutch squad Bert Story-Piels
Photo ©: Mark Gunter
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The team from Philippines
Photo ©: Mark Gunter
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Mr.Bookmaker.com-Palmans-Collstrop
Photo ©: Mark Gunter
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Panaria-Margres
Photo ©: Mark Gunter
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The Malaysian national team
Photo ©: Mark Gunter
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