Dutch sprinter Kenny Van Hummel, who underlined his speed this season when he clocked up stage victories in the Tour de Picardie, the Tour of Belgium and the Tour of Hainan (4 wins), will seek to get his tally off to an early start in 2011. The 28 year old will be one of the leaders of the Skil Shimano team in next months’ Tour de Langkawi, and the pattern of the race suggests that he should have several opportunities to fight for wins.
“We’ll come with strong and motivated riders, including our sprinter Kenny van Hummel who collected five bunch sprint victories in 2009 and ten in 2010”, said team manager Iwan Spekenbrink.
Ironically, while he is a successful athlete, it was moments where he struggled that earned him the most attention. Like many sprinters, Van Hummel found the going tough in the mountains of the 2009 Tour de France and ended up last in the general classification. He fought onwards and received plenty of attention for his plucky riding as the lanterne rouge, but was forced to withdraw on stage 17 due to a crash.
Van Hummel is older and more experienced now and should cope fine with the daunting ascent of the Genting Highlands climb in the Tour de Langkawi. Most of the other stages should end in bunch sprints, and the team will dedicate itself to his services on those incidences.
He will be joined in the sprint finales by Australian rider Mitch Docker, who previously led the Malaysian tour and who is also a very quick rider.
Another rider with past success in the race is the Japanese climber Yukihiro Doi, who finished eighth in 2007 and who has since moved to the Netherlands to race with the Dutch wing of the Skil-Shimano squad. Sixth place in this year’s Tour of Turkey show he is continuing to progress, and he will return to Malaysia knowing that he has the potential to chase a top five finish. “I’m happy with my development as a cyclist with Skil-Shimano,” he stated. He will be supported by experienced team-mates such as Koen de Kort, Albert Timmer and Martin Reimer, who is moving to the team after competing with Cervélo this season.
The race begins on January 23rd, is ten days in length and covers 1314 kilometres. Tour de Langkawi CEO Mohamed Salleh expects a good performance from the team, and is also confident that the event will make a big impression on them.
“The participation of Skil-Shimano to Le Tour de Langkawi will bring media attention from the Netherlands but also from Japan, Australia and Germany,” he explained. “That’s why we’re delighted to have them racing on Malaysian soil. Most of these riders and their staff have never visited the beautiful island of Langkawi, where we’re bringing the start of the race back after three years. I’m pretty sure they’ll love the place.”
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Skil Shimano for Tour de Langkawi:
Mitch Docker (Australia)
Koen de Kort (Netherlands)
Kenny Van Hummel (Netherlands)
Albert Timmer (Netherlands)
Yukihiro Doi (Japan)
Martin Reimer (Germany)
Directeur sportif: Iwan Spekenbrink