Global Riders to Watch: Tour de Langkawi 2022

It’s great to see Langkawi back after two-and-a-half years away. For me, this is the big stage race in Asia. We’ve got lots of big teams here with some top talent.

Langkawi is the perfect opportunity for riders from smaller cycling nations to take on the big names and show what they can do. Here are some riders to look out for this week.

Mohd Harrif Saleh

34, Malaysia, Terengganu Polygon CT

Still the fastest man in Asia. He proved that last week with a stage win and two second places at the Tour de Taiwan.

In early 2020, he took on WT sprinters in this race, winning twice. He battles against Kanter, Mareczko, Gibbons, Halvorsen and van den Berg this week. He has the speed to repeat his feats of 2020. Underestimate him at your peril.

Vinicius Rangel

21, Brazil, Movistar Team

There was lots of excitement about Movistar signing this young Brazilian at the start of this year. The reality has been that Vinicius is taking his time to get used to racing at the World Tour level.

Last year, he won two of the big amateur Spanish stage races: the Vuelta a Cantabria and Vuelta a Salamanca. He went on to finish 9th at the under-23 Worlds. These results attracted enough interest for Movistar to give him a rare three-year neo pro contract. He hasn't really had a result of note this year, often riding in a domestique role for the Spanish team.

He will support Kanter on the flat sprints this week, but stages 1 and 8 may be too hard for the German if they are ridden hard. This could mean Rangel could get an opportunity.

Eduardo Sepúlveda

31, Argentina, Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli

The Argentinian star has ridden multiple World Tour races this year, including the Giro, and also won the mountain stage in the Tour of Turkey, but somehow he is looking for a contract for 2023.

Having not raced much since going well in the Sazka Tour in August, he will be fresh. Sepúlveda could be a big threat to the World Tour teams on the Genting Highlands stage(a harder climb this year). A top-5 is well within reach.

Jambaljamts Sainbayar

26, Mongolia, Terengganu Polygon CT

Fast and punchy, Sainbayar is a danger on stages one and eight.

The Mongolian has had a great year. Three UCI wins. Top-10s overall in the Tours of Sharjah and Sakarya. (Plus a couple of 11th place GC results)

For me, Sainbayar is a pro level rider in terms of ability. This week is his best ever chance to show that. He has chances to do well from the peloton, but he should take the race on. Go on the attack. There is a chance of a breakaway stage win or two this week.

Paul Daumont

23, Burkina Faso, ProTouch

Six wins on the west African racing scene this year. He also put in a solid ride at the Tour of Iran last week. It's probably been his best season.

This will be the biggest race Daumont has ever competed in. It will be interesting to see if he can step up.

Kent Main

26, South Africa, ProTouch

One big UCI win at the Tour of Rwanda and 7th overall, 11th at Volta ao Alentejo, 2nd at GP Cappadocia and 6th overall at the Tour of Sakarya: it's been a good year for Kent Main. He's a rider who has the ability to compete at higher levels.

I don't want to watch Main sit in the peloton and see how he can do on GC this week. I'd rather he went out and attacked the race, made an impression and maybe shock the big teams.

A mention also for young Callum Ormiston who is seemingly going very well right now. He finished 12th in Sakarya and then was up there in the finale of the under-23 World Road Race before he was taken out by a rider crashing in front of him. He's 22 now. If he wants to ride professionally in Europe, this is a big opportunity for him.

Sarawut Sirironnachai

30, Thailand, Thailand Continental Team

Sarawut put in a very good ride at the Tour of Iran last week. He took four top-10s and 6th overall.

He's a brilliant rider on the Asia Tour and has raced here on a few occasions. Expect him to infiltrate the breaks here. Don't be surprised if he picks up a good result.

Xianjing Lyu

24, China, China Glory Cycling Team

I've been impressed by Lyu this year. He's been thrown in to a number of big stage races and managed to finish Türkiye, Arctic Race of Norway and Turul Romaniei. Big, hard races. I wonder if anything will be different as he races on Asia soil.

Lyu's best strength is his climbing. He will probably sit in the peloton and see how far he can get on the mountain-top finishes.

Aiman Cahyadi

28, Indonesia, Mula

Indonesian road race champion Cahyadi is probably the strongest rider in the Mula squad. The team haven't done a lot of racing this year, so Cahyadi has mostly been racing for the Indonesian national team on road and track.

He finished second in the TT and road race at the SEA Games - a big event for South East Asia athletes. The standard was slightly higher when he finished 9th in the TT at the Islamic Solidarity Games.

He's raced here in the past, getting in the break on multiple occasions. Expect more of the same this week.

Ryuki Uga

23, Japan, Team UKYO SAGAMIHARA

Ryuki Uga is on a massive high having won the recent Oita Urban Classic in Japan, the second-biggest one-day race in the country. That was a hilly course and Uga won in a two-up sprint after getting away with Takayuki Abe.

UKYO are a strong team. Hopefully Uga gets a chance to ride for himself a bit this week.

Yuhi Todome

20, Japan, EF Education-EasyPost

Usually riding for the development team, Yuhi Todome gets his first opportunity to ride for the World Tour squad this week.

Todome has been very impressive this season, he's a big hope for the future of Japanese cycling. He was 12th overall at the Tour of Japan, won the u23 and Japan University TTs and finished a solid 21st in the u23 World TT championships. He's also built a lot of experience this season and I think he's ready to push on for results in Europe in 2023.

In this race he'll be in a team role, looking after his high-profile leaders and hoping to impress the big bosses at EF

Nichol Pareja

22, Philippines, Philippines National Team

Possibly the best prospect coming out of the Philippines right now.

Pareja had a good ride at the Tour of Taiwan last week, finishing 13th overall, out-performing the team's big leader, Marcelo Felipe.

He's a fast-improving rider. A good climber, he will want to test himself on the big mountain stages.